FDBusiness.com

KitoZyme has announced that it is now developing and marketing globally unique, patented wine treatment products, claiming that these natural solutions, made from mushroom extracts, are tempting oenologists from the largest wine cellars in France and further afield.

The start-up from Liège, Belgium, a former spin-off from the University of Liège, says it is a leader in the design and manufacture of OTC health products, and has also cultivated an excellent reputation for itself over recent years among wine cellars the world over by providing them firstly with a globally unique product that fights against a very unpleasant yeast, and secondly with natural and plant-based alternatives to the ingredients that are traditionally used, many of which require labelling to highlight their allergenic properties.

“These innovations are the result of the company’s research undertaken in collaboration with two significant players in this sector, including the Canadian Lallemand Group, one of the world’s leaders in the manufacture and distribution of wine products,” said François Blondel, CEO of KitoZyme. “Thanks to these development and marketing partnerships, KitoZyme products can now be found in the largest wine-producing countries of the world: France, Spain and Italy, as well as the United States, Australia, Chile and even South Africa. Our sales in this sector have seen remarkable growth this year. Our products were used in the treatment of an equivalent of 80 million bottles, this represents an increase of over 30% compared to last year… 2015 was a very good vintage for KitoZyme.”

Brettanomyces is the name of the yeast that strongly alters the aroma and the taste of red wine by giving it a strong barnyard smell. In this case, says KitoZyme, it is down to a serious sanitary problem in the cellars, for which the solutions to date have been relatively ineffective. Thanks to the KiOfine B product, also sold under the “No Brett Inside” brand, wine-producers now have a safe and effective tool.

“This allows large chateaux to keep, for a very long term, the full potential of their wines,” said Blondel.

KitoZyme and Lallemand-IOC also offer other products to help wine-producers avoid the use of milk-based (casein) and egg-based (albumin, lysozyme) products or synthetic polymers in their processes for refining and clarifying must and wine. This means that, for instance, the oxidisation of white wines can be halted, certain stages of the wine-making process are made easier and unwanted heavy metals can be removed.