3A Sparkling Wines and Yeast Autolysis 65
has been used in numerous works, from 1990 until today (Maujean et al. 1990;
Brissonet and Maujean 1991, 1993; Robillard et al. 1993; Dussaud et al. 1994;
Malvy et al. 1994; Andr ́es-Lacueva et al. 1996a, 1997; Gallart et al. 1997, 2004;
L ́opez-Barajas et al. 1998, 1999; Sen`ee et al. 1998; Lao et al. 1999; Marchal
et al. 2001, 2002, 2006; Girbau-S `ola et al. 2002b; Vanrell et al. 2002; Dambrouck
et al. 2005; Cilindre et al. 2007; Vanrell et al. 2007).
The validity of the results obtained with the Mosalux has been verified, since
there is a good correlation between these parameters and other foaming parame-
ters such as foam height and stability, established by Robillard et al. (1993) and
Bikerman’s coefficient. The foam quality of a wine can be predicted by a mathemat-
ical model developed by combining some of these parameters (Gallart et al. 1997;
L ́opez-Barajas et al. 1999). A good relationship has also been established between
the foaming properties obtained with Mosalux and those obtained by evaluating the
foam quality by sensorial analysis (Gallart et al. 2004).
In the Instituto de Fermentaciones Industriales of the Spanish National Research
Council Research (CSIC), a piece of equipment has been designed to measure foam
produced by gas sparging that uses an ultrasound emitter-detector and a waveguide
to detect fluctuations in the foam (Moreno-Arribas et al. 2000; Mart ́ınez-Rodr ́ıguez
and Polo 2003; Mart ́ınez-Rodr ́ıguez et al. 2001b; Hidalgo et al. 2004; Pozo-Bay ́on
et al. 2004; Nunez et al. 2005, 2006). Moreover, the value of the results obtained
with this technique and their relationship with the parameters established in the
sensorial analysis has also been demonstrated.
The image analysis methods can be used to evaluate the height and collar pro-
duced in the glass by the foam by a system of artificial vision (Machet et al. 1993;
Robillard et al. 1995). This method has the advantage that it can evaluate the quality
of the foam in an automated manner by using video cameras but in real condi-
tions in a glass. The conclusions reached in this work are that it is important to
take into account the quality of the glasswhen evaluating foam quality produced in
sparkling wines, since it significantly affects this property, as also do the environ-
mental parameters during the analysis.
Another extensive group of works, described in the literature, focus on different
physico-chemical aspects of the effervescence in sparkling wines to try to explain
bubble formation (nucleation) and survival, both in the interior of the liquid and also
at its surface. Some of these works even propose models constructed with fibers to
simulate bubble formation and behaviour (Casey 1987, 1995, 2000; Jordan and
Napper 1994; Liger-Belair et al. 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006; Liger-Belair 2005; P ́eron
et al. 2000, 2001, 2004; Sen`ee et al. 1999; Uzel et al. 2006; Tufaile et al. 2007;
Voisin et al. 2005).
The studies published by Sen`ee et al. (1999, 2001) show that the endogenous
particles (bentonite and yeasts) that can exist in a wine also have an important effect
on foam quality, simultaneously having both positive and negative effects, since they
have different effects on the various foaming parameters.
Most of the studies published in the literature on sparkling wine quality are aimed
at establishing the effect of the chemical composition of these wines and the differ-
ent technologies used in their production on their foaming qualities.