Choosing the Right Yeast to Drive Flavor Expression in Sparkling Wine
WIN Expo 2025 Trial Tasting
Sparkling wine is one of the world’s most diverse and complex beverages, offering an enormous spectrum of flavors. This diversity is due to myriad factors, including the grape varieties, the regional terroir, and the production method.
While these factors establish the wine’s primary fruit and floral characteristics, it is the yeast that act as the “invisible winemaker,” giving the sensory profile its final expression. Different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae exhibit varying tolerances to the stressful conditions of a sparkling wine fermentation (low pH, high alcohol, and high pressure) and, most importantly, possess diverse capabilities in producing and releasing the flavor compounds that drive the wine’s complexity and distinct style.
Additionally, the secondary fermentation, especially when occurring in the bottle and followed by careful riddling, is where the complex, signature sparkling wine flavors and bubble structure are born. Therefore, choosing the right yeast strain is a critical, high-impact decision for the winemaker.
With this in mind, we evaluated the impact of three diverse yeast strains on production metrics and wine sensory quality and invite you to join us to taste the results.
DATE: Thursday, December 4th 2025
TIME: 2:00 - 3:00
LOCATION: WIN EXPO Hall of Flowers (Booth #614)
No need to RSVP -- just show up!
Meet The Presenters
James Roblee
ATPGroup Technical Support Representative
Jim began his wine career in the Finger Lakes after graduating from Cornell University. He followed his passion for wine west, where he held winemaking positions with some of Napa’s biggest and most luxurious brands for over 14 years. Now with ATPGroup, he assists fellow winemakers to find innovative and customized solutions to process obstacles. Jim lives in Napa, California and spends much of his free time sailing with his wife.
Kyle Altomare
Winemaker, Gloria Ferrer
Kyle leads the winemaking team at Gloria Ferrer with a philosophy rooted in his Italian upbringing. The son of a chef, Kyle was raised to “pursue flavor”—to break it down, understand its nuances, and seek balance. This foundational lesson continues to shape his approach to sparkling wine, a category he describes as “crafted, not prescribed—there’s no recipe, only a series of choices. The real work happens in the bottle, not the cellar.” Kyle’s approach is intuitive and human. He listens to the wine and follows the path it wants to take. Kyle lives in Napa with his wife and two children and can often be found out teaching his family golf, or exploring everything the region has to offer.
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