According to the AWRI, the breakthrough paves the way for development of improved wine yeast, which is a key ingredient in winemaking.

"Availability of improved wine yeast will put winemakers in a stronger position to control fermentation and develop wines with the right quality, character and flavour," AWRI senior research scientist Dr Anthony Borneman said earlier this month.

"We've laid important groundwork for further sequencing and comparative analysis of other wine yeast strains."

Dr Paul Chambers, research manager of AWRI’s Biosciences team, said the group would soon know where to look to find out why some wine yeasts can be troublesome.

"And we will be better placed to improve and tailor them for production of particular wines for target markets," he said.

Using the latest technologies available through the Australian Genome Research Facility, the AWRI’s sequencing project took about six months to complete.