During alcoholic fermentation, yeasts are subjected to several physic- chemical stresses such as: initially, high sugar concentrations and low tem- perature; and latterly, increasing ethanol concentrations. Such conditions trig- ger a series of biological responses in an effort to maintain yeast cell viability and cell cycle progress, but very few studies of yeast stress responses have been reported in wine strains. In laboratory strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, many studies have focused on transcriptional activation and gene expression.