Using DNA to build a better chardonnay

When it comes to wine, Martin Godbout thinks of himself as a social drinker rather than an outright connoisseur.

But as chief executive officer of Genome Canada, he understands the potential impact of scientific research that aims to help grape growers produce high-quality wines more consistently.

That is why the Ottawa research funding agency agreed, three years ago, to collaborate with its Spanish counterpart in trying to gain a better understanding of the molecular bases for wine development.

Backed by $6.2-million in financing, University of British Columbia professors Steven Lund and Joerg Bohlmann are focusing their research on volatile organic compounds, the components that give wine its flavour.

Their ultimate goal is to figure out how berry flavour components are determined by the interplay of a grape's genetic makeup with environmental factors such as light, water and nutrients.

If the research proves fruitful, viticulturalists and winemakers may be able to use the information to monitor changes in the berries that they couldn't otherwise see.

Eventually, Prof. Lund says, the reseachers are hoping that they can come up with hand-held tools that could be taken into the vineyard and used to detect the presence of certain proteins in the grapes right at the vineyard.

"This is an exciting project in terms of its potential economic outcomes," Mr. Godbout said in an interview.

Mr. Godbout said it made sense for Canada to collaborate with a country like Spain, which ranks as the world's second-largest producer of table grapes.

Veteran wine connoisseur John Schreiner said the industry could benefit if grape vines can be genetically modified in such a way that they become more resistant to common diseases, such as powdery mildew.

"That would come in pretty handy," said Mr. Schreiner, an author of several wine books, including The Wines of Canada and Okanagan Wine Tour.

Industry officials are hoping that researchers will gain a better understanding of the complex, but poorly understood, interplay between the natural environment and vineyard management practices that help shape wine quality.

However, when discussing their research in recent interviews, Dr. Bohlmann and Dr. Lund were careful not to raise expectations about what they can achieve, especially in the near future. "I don't want to leave the impression that what we have now is not already very good or that our research will take us to a whole new level," Dr. Bohlmann said.

"We want to be extremely careful that our research will never replace what has been learned through centuries of highly sophisticated knowledge that has been applied in the vineyard," he said.

"What we hope to do is develop tools and technologies that can aid in accelerated breeding and for monitoring fruit and flavour development in the vineyard." Wine industry officials say the two professors are right to be cautious about the potential impact of their research and the reaction it might cause.

"You have to be careful about presenting wine that is genetically modified because it could cause a consumer backlash," said Mr. Schreiner.

"There is a constituency out there that would react quite negatively to the concept of ice wine . . . from genetically modified yeast," he said.

Others agree with that view.

Ingo Grady, director of sales at Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, Canada's largest privately owned winery, said it would take some convincing to persuade him that research into a grapevine's genetic makeup can make a difference to the quality of what is being produced in the company's vineyards near Kelowna, B.C.

"The more you focus on smell and taste, the more you appreciate that the subtle difference between brands is the result of what happens in the soil and the farming of the grapes," he said.

Mr. Grady says it should be noted that Swiss grape breeder Valentin Blattner has succeeded in creating designer grapes "the old-fashioned way," as he calls it. By using the pollen in one variety or species, and crossing it with another, Mr. Blattner has developed disease-resistant, cold-hardy varieties that are thriving not only in Canada but also in Germany, and New Zealand.

"He is breeding very interesting grapes that are surviving the winter in Ontario," Mr. Grady said.

Veteran Victoria-based wine maker Paul Troop says consumers are not too keen on the idea of genetically modified food.

"The universities may be keen on it and the corporations may be keen on it, but I don't think the consumer is particularly [keen]," he said. "I guess it all gets down to who are we serving." However, he says he likes the fact that researchers at UBC are looking at the genetic makeup of grapes to help the industry understand where they came from.

"DNA analysis in the viticulture world in the last 10 years has told us a lot of very interesting things about where our varieties come from," Mr. Troop said.

For example, we now know pinot noir, pinot gris and chardonnay are all related to an obscure grape. "That was very interesting," he said, "but I'm not sure if it really helped us, other than as a curiosity."

Currently, Dr. Bohlmann and Dr. Lund's 10-member research team hope to wrap up the first phase of the project by May 2007.

"If it works, it opens the door to the wine industry in general," Mr. Godbout said.