I went to the talk given by Lisa Van de Water, who calls herself the Bad Wine Lady in the afternoon session of Day one, at the Eastern Winery Exposition. The session was entitled "Comparing New and Established Microbiology Technology & Products". Lisa Van de Water mentioned that detection methods for microbes includes:
- Sensory
- Visual changes
- Unpleasant aromas or flavors
- Chemical analysis
- Microscopy: using phase-constrast microscopes with oil immersion capabilities
- Culturing
- PCR
There are two articles written by Lisa van de Water in
Practical Winery and Vineyards that are very helpful:
Monitoring Microbes During Fermentation
Monitoring Microbes During Cellaring/Bottling
I found those two articles to be my go-to references, especially because there are some very good pictures of the various bacteria and yeasts.
Lisa mentioned that although there are PCR tests that can give very fast turnaround times, the primers for the microbes that you are testing for need to be available in order for the PCR analysis to be diagnostic. She advised that all methods to test for bad bacteria and yeast be used so that your wine does not end up being tainted by unwanted microbes.
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