The ability of three Saccharomyces wine yeasts (S. cerevisiae AWRI 838, S. cerevisiae AWRI 1537, and S. bayanus AWRI 1375) to liberate volatile compounds from sugar-bound aroma precursors was investigated using synthetic and grape glycosides under different experimental conditions. In model systems involving the incubation of yeast cells with either synthetic or grape-derived glycosides under conditions more favorable for glycosidase activities and less favorable for acid-catalyzed hydrolysis (pH 5.0 and 30 degrees C), all yeast strains studied proved to be capable of hydrolyzing glycosides, with S. bayanus AWRI 1375 displaying greater hydrolytic activity than S. cerevisiae AWRI 838 and AWRI 1537. During the fermentation of a chemically defined grape juice-like medium containing glycosidic precursors extracted from Vitis vinifera cv. White Frontignac (synonym Muscat à Petit Grains Blanc), all yeasts promoted a significant hydrolysis of different precursors, which varied according to the chemical structures of both the sugar and the aglycon moieties, as determined by GC-MS analysis of trifluoroacetylated derivatives. Hydrolysis of the White Frontignac derived glycosidic precursors during fermentation resulted in the release of monoterepene alcohols, terpene oxides, terpene diols, and 3-oxo-alpha-ionol, demonstrating the significant potential of these yeast strains to contribute to wine varietal volatile composition during alcoholic fermentation.