Saccharomyces Cerevisiae - Perfect for sweet white/blush and dessert wines from grape and particularly from country fruits & flowers.

CY17 produces high levels of desirable congeners during fermentation including aromatic thiols, imparting rich fruity aromatics, full body and ‘tropical’ flavour characteristics to the wine.  CY17 is also noted for high glycerol formation further enhancing sweetness.

This is a slow fermenter compared to all other strains in the Vintner’s Harvest range typically taking up to 21 days to ferment table wines and up to 35 days for dessert wines.  CY17 prefers a constant temperature in the 22 – 26°C (72 -78°F) range.  Dropping the temperature below 15°C (59°F) two-thirds the way through fermentation will arrest fermentation making CY17 suitable for producing naturally sweet wines (both potassium sorbate and metabisulphite must be used to prevent re-fermentation).

CY17 is also excellent for sweet sparking wines, but strain CL23 must be employed for the bottle fermentation stage.

Avoid free SO2 levels above 50 ppm and ensure pH above 3.2, CY17 is a delicate strain that must be treated with some respect.  Pay particular attention to sterile winemaking conditions and a warm start to fermentation otherwise risk of bacterial contamination is increased.   CY17 will happily ferment up to 15% abv. ethanol if such conditions are employed.