In vino scientia

Abstract

A blue autumn sky spans the vineyards that cover the east‐facing hillsides of the Palatinate in southern Germany. The vines are depleted—their grapes harvested weeks ago—although there is still some warmth in the sunshine on a mid‐November day. The summer of 2006 in Germany was unusual: a hot dry July followed by a cold rainy August, and a warm, moist September and October. The climate during these last two months caused the grapes to swell and their skins to rupture, increasing the risk of spoilage by fungal infections, so that the winemakers had to rush to bring their harvest in early. The fickleness of nature is not the only challenge facing winemakers. During the past few years, consumer tastes for wine have drastically changed, and they generally expect better quality for their money. Among other responses, both small and large producers have turned to science for advice on how to make better wines. Science has had a long relationship with winemaking, from breeding new grape varieties to improving the fermentation process, and, most recently, advising on which vines to grow in a given location. Today, many research fields—including geology, chemistry and microbiology—are involved in improving the steps from vineyard to bottle (Fig 1). However, it might disadvantage small producers—and therefore the diversity of wine and winemaking—if only large estates with big budgets can afford the latest technologies. Figure 1. Rough scheme of processes in winemaking (facultative processes are shown in grey). Large changes in the international wine market are now taking place and are driving a wave of innovations. As Florian Bauer, Professor of Wine Biotechnology at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, pointed out, “There is an increasing penetration by New World wine industries into the European market,” which is the world's largest and most sophisticated. In general, the global market used …