14 DAY TRIAL // A good wine does not come cheap. Usually, if you go to an European country with tradition on wines, all that is under $8 dollars per liter could be discarded. Of course, the most exquisite wines can reach hundreds of dollars and in luxury restaurants this can go further.
It is said that the quality of a wine is in the soil, climate and yeast, but before all the grape strain. No wonder that a new genetic research, published in the on-line journal PLoS ONE, revealing the genome of Pinot Noir, the strain behind the best quality red wines of Burgundy, has triggered a lot of attention.
The Italian team hopes this will lead to more resistant plantations and, subsequently, to cheaper fine wines.
The team analyzed over 2 million genetic markers within the Pinot Noir grape, also called the "heartbreak grape", as it is so difficult to cultivate and very sensitive to disease.
"Understanding what makes up the variety at the DNA level means it may now be possible to breed disease-resistant grapes without sacrificing taste", said Riccardo Velasco, head of genetics at the Istituto Agrario San Michele all'Adige.
"Discovering these 2 million molecular markers is a tremendous tool which will help in the breeding not only of pinot noir but every cultivated grape variety", he told MSNBC.
A draft of this genome had been made, but the new research assessed the large number of nucleotide bases (SNPs) among its 30,000 genes. The researchers have also detected 289 genes involved in disease resistance.
"This information is a 'treasure trove' which should fast-track the traditional breeding selection process. When I told sommelier Andrew Meadows about this recently, his reaction was, 'Good! I would love to offer a decent pinot for less than $30,'" said Brian Dilkes of the UC Davis Genome Center.
The team warns that these researches won't lead to engineered grapes for making wines.
"We're not interested in GMOs (genetically modified organisms). GMOs are not allowed in Europe and would not be accepted in the grape world, which is extremely conservative", said Velasco.