The Importance of Tailored Starter Cultures to Ensure the Quality and the Safety of 'Wild', Organic, Biodynamic, and Typical Wines

The market dynamics of the global wine industry lead to a considerable segmentation of oenological products. Among the different drivers of differentiation, the two macro-categories of ‘organic/biodynamic’ and ‘traditional/typical/artisanal’ (including products with a recognized status of Geographical Indications) wines are of a significant worldwide importance. Considering both classes, consistently with the different statuses, the phase of the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations have been receiving growing attention as possible stages of new approaches conceived to improve marketability, such as i) the return to spontaneous fermentations and/or ii) biotechnological solutions able to mimic spontaneous evolution of microbial diversity in the must/wine system. The diversity of indigenous microbial resources and their interactions are of outstanding interest for the general impact on wine quality and safety. The scientific community suggested different approaches to conciliate the needs of differentiation (via alternative management of microbial resources in oenology) and the importance of quality and safety standards in wine productions. This communication provides a review of this topic, encompassing the major trends, the protechnological significance of microbiodiversity in oenology, and the potential role of autochthonous resources. Moreover, we will consider the pros and the cons of the main existing approaches, with a particular focus on the ‘tailored’ starter cultures designed to ensure the quality and the safety of ‘organic/biodynamic’ and ‘traditional/typical/artisanal’ wine productions. The social, economic, and environmental sustainability associated with the diverse approaches is also discussed.