Thirty-nine strains of lactic acid bacteria were isolated during the making of red wine from Muscat Bailey a grapes at Shiranuri Winery, Yamanashi prefecture from 1992 to 1994. The strains isolated were classified as Lactobacillus plantarum (25 strains), Leuconostoc oenos (6 strains), Leuconostoc mesenteroides (5 strains), Lactobacillus yamanashiensis (1 strain), Lactobacillus brevis (1 strain), Lactobacillus fermentum (1 strain), Lactobacillus sp. (4 strains). Eight L. plantarum strains were found in the first stage of the wine-making process, and four Leu. oenos strains in the later stage. In 1993 and 1994, malo-lactic fermentation occurred in the red wine as a result of wild-type lactic acid bacteria activity, but this did not take place in 1992