First Venture Technologies Corp. (TSX-V: FEB) is pleased to report the final analysis of results from commercial product trials of its urea-degrading wine yeasts conducted in Chile during the spring 2007 winemaking season.
In July 2007, the company reported ethyl carbamate reductions ranging as high as 76% - 92% in wines made with First Venture’s proprietary yeasts compared to wines made with control yeast strains. The company can now report that no product sensory or fermentation performance differences were found between wines made with the urea-degrading and the control yeasts. These results were consistent with reports from commercial trials conducted in North America.
“First Venture’s yeasts continue to satisfy important winemaker
criteria for use, and demonstrate the ability to significantly reduce
ethyl carbamate contamination in wines,” said Andy Starr, First Venture Yeast Products Director of Marketing and Business Development” We are very pleased by the Chilean wine community’s interest to minimize ethyl carbamate contamination in their wines, and in their willingness to try our proprietary yeast solution.”
“In adopting a new yeast strain, the most important criteria for a
winemaker is the strain’s possible sensory effect on wine quality, and the fermentation kinetics that influence production economics,” added Starr. “We are encouraged to see that our yeasts produced wines that taste and smell the same as when produced with their competitive parent strains, and that fermentation rate performances were found to be comparable too.”
The Chilean wineries that chose to conduct trials are an excellent
representation of wineries in Chile — from large international
producers to smaller family-owned operations. Different grape-growing regions were also represented: Chardonnay from Casablanca and Aconcagua Valleys; Sauvignon Vert from Curico Valley; Merlot from Colchagua; and Sauvignon Blanc from Casablanca.
Ethyl carbamate levels were measured, both at the point of wine
bottling and, more importantly, in simulated accelerated storage which is the more appropriate method to determine ethyl carbamate carcinogen exposure risk at the point of consumer consumption. These accelerated storage measures account for real life product conditions which include passage of time between bottling, storage, temperature, aging and actual consumption — all of which, depending on things like methods of shipping, and regions and climates, may elevate a wine’s exposure to high temperature resulting in many cases to a multitude of scale
increase in ethyl carbamate levels.
First Venture also reports that it has expanded its operations in North America. The company is currently conducting its second season of product trials in that region. Various technical projects to refine the yeast product line and to secure production and inventory are underway. As well, the company continues to review and develop new markets for its brandy, sake and bread yeast strains that have proven efficacious in early lab trials.
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