An announcement from the normally level-headed Australian Wine Research Institute regarding research into the selection of yeast strains which could less efficiently convert sugar to ethanol, thus allowing fuller grape maturity with less oppressive alcohol. A nice idea, but I'm afraid not practical.
As I mentioned in Some Like It Hot, yeast strains can’t change the conversion ratio of sugar to alcohol, at least not very much. The six carbon atoms in a sugar molecule have to go somewhere. Two atoms end up as carbon dioxide. The other four go to ethyl alcohol plus miniscule amounts of other flavors like glycerol and to the growth of the yeasts themselves. To change alcohol by 1 percent would mean 10 grams per liter of some other carbon material – an enormous amount which would render the wine undrinkable.