Wine making yeast is not made equal.
There are various different strains, each of which is designed for producing different types of wine.
If you consider all the different qualities and types of wine you will begin to realize how varied wine is.
It isn't just a matter of red and white, flat or sparkling, sweet or dry; there are a huge number of taste differences that come into play as well.
Here are some examples of how yeast can change the way wine tastes.
But first you need to realize that different types of yeast were isolated in different countries and that most come from the original wine-making countries of the world.
These examples relate only to Germany and France, countries that have been producing wine for centuries.
Some German strains Germany is a world-leader in terms of isolating yeast and producing it commercially for wine making.
One type of yeast strain they have developed is Assmannshausen.
This is best suited for red wines and it has the effect of making the color of the wine more intense and of adding a lovely, spicy aroma.
It was originally developed for Pinot Noir and Zinfandel, but is now being used for some Cabernet Sauvignon wines.
Cote des Blancs is another type of yeast used for German-style wines.
It allows the wine to ferment slowly at low temperatures.
It also lets the flowery and fruity qualities come out in the wine.
Alcohol levels rarely go beyond 13 percent.
Steinberg is another strain of yeast that was developed in Germany.
It has been used to make a wide variety of hugely popular wines from chinen blanc to muscat, reisling and stein wines (which are a bit sweeter).
It helps to produce a lovely fruity smell and can be used in stainless steel vats.
Some French strains Epernay is particularly interesting because it was isolated in Champagne, in France, which is, of course where genuine champagne is made.
Nowadays we often talk about all sparkling wine as being champagne, but this is not correct.
Some sparkling wines simply have carbon dioxide pumped into them to make them bubbly while others are produced in the same way as champagne - but they cannot be called champagne.
The importance of the yeast is that it can be used for bottle fermenting, which is what you need to produce any type of sparkling wine.
Pasteur Champagne is another French yeast strain.
It was isolated in Champgane, France, and is used to make sparkling wine all over the world.
Pasteur Red (sometimes referred to as French Red) was developed in Bordeaux and it is tolerant to heat and sulfur dioxide.
It ferments easily and is often used to make Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Zinfandel.
Pasteur White is common for making white wine and it works well in stainless steel vats.
There is so much to learn, why not do some research of your own?