(Realclearscience) - Scientists at Vanderbilt University are raising a glass to the discovery of a previously ignored source of genetic diversity in wine yeast strains. The finding could explain some of the variation in wine vintages available to consumers and open the door to refining wine flavors and crafting all new vintages.

Many strains of the brewer’s yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are responsible for the fermentation of wine from grapes. Different strains of the same species usually share most of their DNA except for key single base variations at a few thousand or million places throughout the genome. These variations can lead to differences between strains that might affect fermentation and the resulting wine.