Argentina ranks among the top ten countries worldwide in terms of cider production (Becerra, 2010). Despite having a long-standing tradition of cider consumption, its consumption in Argentina is mostly tied to Christmas holidays, resulting in a significant seasonality (Pedreschi and Villarreal, 2021). Cider elaboration in Argentina is concentrated in North Patagonian region (70 % of the total production) and mostly produced from apple varieties traditionally employed for its consumption fresh or for dessert, including Granny Smith, Pink Lady and, in lesser extent, Royal Gala and Red Delicious (Uthurry et al., 2019). Because cider is produced from autumn to spring without temperature control, most fermentation processes are carried out at low temperatures (below 20 °C).

In recent years, both government entities and cider producers have made significant efforts and investments to adapt to changing consumer trends implementing various marketing strategies. These strategies include year-round production and sale of ciders, diversification of packaging options, and innovation in production techniques to create handcrafted ciders with distinct flavours that differentiate them from the “traditional” industrial cider (Gonzalez Flores et al., 2022).

Despite the economic relevance of cider in Argentina and globally, only a few commercial starter cultures have been specifically developed for this beverage, in comparison with the hundreds of them available for winemaking. For that reason, most producers in North Patagonia make use of commercial white wine starter cultures for cider elaboration or they simply make spontaneous (uninoculated) fermentations.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the improvement in aromatic quality achieved in ciders using non-conventional yeasts or interspecific hybrids at laboratory or semi-pilot scale in non-sterile musts (Guerrini et al., 2023; Li et al., 2022; Suaréz Valles et al., 2008; Tocci et al., 2023). However, most of them do not consider the sensory profile evaluated by trained and untrained consumer panels (Magalhães et al., 2017; Uthurry et al., 2019), or the effective use of these yeasts at pilot or industrial scales has not been fully verified (Suaréz Valles et al., 2008).

On the other hand, carbonation of base ciders can be performed either artificially or naturally by means of second fermentation processes. Although the first option is the most common practice in Argentina (Uthurry et al., 2019), some producers have also implemented the natural carbonation process in some ciders. The well-known advantage of the second fermentation process in enhancing aromatic complexity of fermented beverages has been described by several authors in ciders (Li et al., 2022; Suaréz Valles et al., 2008; Tocci et al., 2023). During this stage carried out either in the bottle or the tank, different and particular aromatic compounds are produced and released from the yeast cells to the base cider (Gallardo-Chacón et al., 2009; Suaréz Valles et al., 2008). The ability of the Torulaspora delbrueckii and different strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to conduct the second fermentation process as well as to improve both aromatic and sensory features of sparkling ciders has recently been evaluated at laboratory scale (Li et al., 2022; Tocci et al., 2023). In this context, the use of different yeast strains during sparkling ciders elaboration could be an attractive option for artisanal production of this beverage, enabling the creation of unique ciders in terms of flavour and quality.

The aim of this work was to evaluate non-conventional cryotolerant yeast species from Patagonia (S. uvarum and S. eubayanus) as well as artificial hybrids between these species and S. cerevisiae, to develop sparkling ciders at low temperature. Strains with known aromatic profiles adapted to apple fermentation were selected (González Flores et al., 2021, González Flores et al., 2019, González Flores et al., 2017). Additionally, hybridization strategy was employed to explore new aromatic profiles. The best yeast strains were selected to conduct pilot-scale fermentations (250 L), and a second fermentation was carried out using the champenoise method. Aromatic profiles of ciders from both the first and second fermentation were compared, and sensory analyses were performed with both trained and untrained panels. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report on the use of interspecific hybrids in the production of artisanal sparkling ciders using the champenoise method, and one of the few that simultaneously explores the aromatic and sensory profile of this type of beverage at a pilot scale.