Wine Blast partners with Lallemand Oenology

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Faced with climate change, sustainability targets, rising costs and shifting consumer tastes, the wine sector needs new tools to put winegrowers and winemakers back on the front foot. As Susie and Peter explore in this episode, microorganisms now offer concrete, natural answers : from the vineyard to the bottle’s final destination.

Three guests bring complementary perspectives:

Christopher Chen,
- Australian wine consultant, shares the results of his first commercial trial of LalVigne PROHYDRO™ at Greenock Creek Wines in the Barossa Valley during what turned out to be the hottest growing season in 23 years. A natural yeast derivative rich in proline, LalVigne PROHYDRO™ is designed to reinforce the vine’s own stress-coping capacity. Chris reports denser, healthier canopies, more efficient water uptake, earlier ripening and “not a single yellow leaf” on his Cabernet three weeks after harvest. He now plans to use it in Tasmania too, including as a tool against frost events.

Professor Hervé Alexandre,
- Director of the Jules Guyot Institute of Vine and Wine (University of Burgundy) and one of Europe’s leading authorities on wine yeasts, explains how bioprotection using specific strains of selected non-Saccharomyces such as Metschnikowia pulcherrima or Torulaspora delbrueckii and bioacidification with Lachancea thermotolerans help winemakers reduce reliance on sulfites and acid additions. He also hints at the next frontier: yeasts capable of naturally lowering alcohol levels in wine.

Belinda Kleinig,
- In-house winemaker at Marks & Spencer (UK), recounts her trial of PURE-LEES LONGEVITY™ on a Sauvignon Blanc shipped in bulk from New Zealand. The results were striking: no need to top up sulfites on arrival, fresher flavours in bottle, and a doubled shelf life in pouch format. In her own words: “It was incredible. We were shocked. It’s a game-changer.”

From drought resilience and rot prevention to lower-sulfite wines, natural acidification, alcohol reduction and protected bulk shipping, the episode lays out just how broad, and how immediate , the contribution of microbiology, and particularly Lallemand Oenology’s microbial solutions,to modern winemaking has become.

🎧 Listen to the episode: Wine Blast S7 E26 — Yeastie Boys: Wine’s Modern Microbial Solutions

Published May 27, 2026 | Updated Jun 1, 2026