Yeast
Three numbers, and only one is on the sachet.
Alcohol tolerance is the ceiling: pitch a 14% strain into a 26 Brix must and it stalls at 14% with sugar left, which is either a stuck ferment or a sweet wine depending on whether you planned it. Temperature decides how much aroma survives, because every thiol and terpene in a white is volatile.
Nitrogen demand is the third, and it is the one nobody prints. A hungry strain in a low-nitrogen must makes hydrogen sulphide, and by the time you smell it the damage is done. It is listed on every strain here.
Red
6 strains
Strains chosen for colour stability, tannin integration and a tolerance for the heat a red ferment generates on its own.
RC 212
High NThe Burgundy strain: emphasises red fruit and preserves the delicate colour of thin-skinned varieties. Hungry, and it will make hydrogen sulphide if you do not feed it.
Tolerates to 14%
10% - 14%
Ferments at
18C - 30C
Lalvin RC212
Will produce hydrogen sulphide if it runs short. Feed it, and feed it before it complains.
BM 4x4
Medium NA blend of two strains that builds mouthfeel and polysaccharide body, so the wine feels rounder without any extra tannin.
Tolerates to 16%
10% - 16%
Ferments at
16C - 28C
Lallemand BM 4x4
Wants a normal grape must, or a fruit must fed in stages.
D254
High NBig, ripe and mouth-filling, emphasising jammy fruit and softening tannin. The strain for a warm-climate red you want to drink young.
Tolerates to 16%
10% - 16%
Ferments at
18C - 30C
Lalvin ICV D254
Will produce hydrogen sulphide if it runs short. Feed it, and feed it before it complains.
D80
Medium NBuilds structure and length rather than fruit, and holds colour well through a long maceration. A strain for wines meant to age.
Tolerates to 16%
10% - 16%
Ferments at
20C - 30C
Lalvin ICV D80
Wants a normal grape must, or a fruit must fed in stages.
Cabernet CS2
Medium NSelected from Bordeaux for Cabernet: emphasises blackcurrant and cedar, and integrates hard tannin better than most.
Tolerates to 16%
10% - 16%
Ferments at
18C - 30C
Lallemand Enoferm CSM (related)
Wants a normal grape must, or a fruit must fed in stages.
Syrah Rhone 2226
Medium NA Rhone isolate that emphasises pepper, dark fruit and a soft finish, and copes with a hot ferment better than most.
Tolerates to 16%
10% - 16%
Ferments at
16C - 30C
Lalvin Rhone 2226
Wants a normal grape must, or a fruit must fed in stages.
White and rose
7 strains
Cool fermenters that make or preserve aroma. Nearly all of them want to run below 18C, and the difference between 15C and 22C is most of the wine.
EC-1118
Low NThe workhorse and the blunt instrument: ferments almost anything, almost anywhere, to almost dryness. Neutral to the point of stripping aroma, and it will out-compete anything else in the bucket.
Tolerates to 18%
10% - 18%
Ferments at
7C - 35C
Lalvin EC-1118 / Red Star Premier Cuvee
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
QA23
Low NA Portuguese strain with high beta-glucosidase, so it releases the bound thiols in Sauvignon Blanc and Albarino that would otherwise stay locked in the juice. Ferments cold and clean.
Tolerates to 16%
10% - 16%
Ferments at
10C - 20C
Lalvin QA23
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
D47
Medium NRich and round, producing a lot of polysaccharide on the lees, which is what makes it the standard choice for barrel-fermented Chardonnay and for mead.
Tolerates to 15%
10% - 15%
Ferments at
15C - 20C
Lalvin ICV D47
Wants a normal grape must, or a fruit must fed in stages.
R2
Medium NA very cold-tolerant strain that emphasises tropical and floral aromatics, and keeps fermenting at temperatures where others stop.
Tolerates to 16%
10% - 16%
Ferments at
10C - 18C
Lalvin R2
Wants a normal grape must, or a fruit must fed in stages.
VIN 13
High NA South African strain that produces intense passionfruit and guava esters. Fast, hungry and capable of overwhelming a delicate variety.
Tolerates to 17%
10% - 17%
Ferments at
12C - 20C
Anchor VIN 13
Will produce hydrogen sulphide if it runs short. Feed it, and feed it before it complains.
CY3079
High NThe white Burgundy strain: flinty, buttery and fresh-bread rather than fruity, and it works with malolactic instead of against it.
Tolerates to 15%
10% - 15%
Ferments at
15C - 25C
Lalvin CY3079
Will produce hydrogen sulphide if it runs short. Feed it, and feed it before it complains.
71B
Low NMetabolises up to a third of the malic acid during fermentation, which makes it the strain for anything too sharp to be pleasant. Also softens young country wine noticeably.
Tolerates to 14%
10% - 14%
Ferments at
15C - 30C
Lalvin 71B-1122
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
Sparkling and high alcohol
3 strains
Strains that keep working where others give up: in a bottle at 6 atmospheres, in a 28 Brix must, or in a ferment that has already stalled once.
DV10
Low NThe Champagne strain: extremely neutral, tolerant of low temperature, low pH, high alcohol and high sulphite, and it compacts into a tight lees plug that riddles cleanly.
Tolerates to 18%
10% - 18%
Ferments at
10C - 30C
Lalvin DV10
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
Uvaferm 43
Low NBuilt for restarting stuck fermentations: very tolerant of alcohol and of the conditions that stopped the first yeast.
Tolerates to 18%
10% - 18%
Ferments at
12C - 35C
Lallemand Uvaferm 43
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
K1V-1116
Low NDominant, fast and tolerant of almost everything, including musts low in nutrient. Preserves aroma better than EC-1118 while being nearly as robust.
Tolerates to 18%
10% - 18%
Ferments at
10C - 35C
Lalvin K1V-1116
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
Fruit, mead and cider
5 strains
Chosen for a clean, neutral ferment that leaves the fruit alone, and for coping with musts that are short of the nitrogen grape juice supplies.
71B for fruit
Low NThe same malic-eating strain listed under whites, and the single most useful yeast for country wine, because almost every fruit that is not a grape is too acidic.
Tolerates to 14%
10% - 14%
Ferments at
15C - 30C
Lalvin 71B-1122
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
Cote des Blancs
Medium NSlow and fruit-forward, and it stops relatively early, which is a virtue when you want an off-dry cider or a fruit wine that keeps some sweetness without being stabilised.
Tolerates to 14%
10% - 14%
Ferments at
12C - 25C
Red Star Cote des Blancs / Lalvin CB
Wants a normal grape must, or a fruit must fed in stages.
D47 for mead
Medium NThe default mead yeast, for the body its lees contribute. Keep it below 20C: run it warm and it makes fusel alcohol that takes a year to fade.
Tolerates to 15%
10% - 15%
Ferments at
15C - 20C
Lalvin ICV D47
Wants a normal grape must, or a fruit must fed in stages.
English Cider Yeast
Low NFerments cider dry while keeping the apple aroma that a wine strain strips out, and leaves a fuller body than Champagne yeast does.
Tolerates to 12%
10% - 12%
Ferments at
16C - 22C
White Labs WLP775 / Wyeast 4766
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
Wild ferment
Low NNo pitch at all: the yeast on the fruit does the work. Slower, less predictable and more complex, and the reason traditional cider tastes like nothing a packet produces.
Tolerates to 12%
10% - 12%
Ferments at
10C - 20C
Whatever is on the fruit
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
Malolactic
2 strains
Not yeast at all. Bacteria that convert sharp malic acid to soft lactic acid, dropping titratable acidity by one to three grams per litre and changing the texture as much as the taste.
Oenococcus oeni
Low NConverts malic acid to lactic, dropping TA by one to three grams per litre and turning a sharp wine round and soft. Produces diacetyl, which is buttery in a Chardonnay and wrong in a Riesling.
Tolerates to 15%
10% - 15%
Ferments at
18C - 25C
Lallemand VP41 / Wyeast 4007 / White Labs WLP675
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.
Low pH malolactic
Low NSelected to work below pH 3.2 and at low temperature, where a standard culture simply will not start. The strain for cool-climate whites and for hybrids.
Tolerates to 15%
10% - 15%
Ferments at
16C - 25C
Lallemand Enoferm Alpha / CHR Hansen Viniflora CH16
Copes with a must that is short of nitrogen, which is what makes it the safe choice for honey and fruit.