Isolation and Identification of Endogenous Yeast Strains in Grapes and Must Solids of Mavrodafni kefalonias and Antioxidant Activity of the Produced Red Wine

The prefecture of Kefalonia and Ithaca includes those two islands and a few smaller ones, all of which are located in the Ionian Sea on the west area of Greece. The soil of the islands is calcium rich in some areas and in others it is composed mostly of clay. The climatic and cultural conditions influence the development of grape and flavor profile, producing aromatic traits. The discontinuous mountainous terrain and the variety of microclimates that are controlled mostly by the sea are responsible for the creation of the ideal conditions for viticulture. Indeed, the area is famous since ancient times for wine production.

Kefalonia has three wine growing areas, covering a total of 1,191 ha of vines on the island and it is famous for its white wines, especially “Robola”. There are however other local grape varieties that are used today which are indigenous and the wines produced are sold worldwide. Among those, two of them namely Robola and Mavrodafni are designated with an appellation of origin of high quality.

Furthermore, in recent years, there is an increasing demand for organic products. For this reason, some of the vineyards on the island have been transformed to biological ones and there is a tendency to change all wineries to produce biological products. To achieve this goal some wineries produce wine by spontaneous fermentation.