The Academy of Wine

Nobody can remain indifferent when the subject of genetically modified organisms is brought up. So-called GMOs can raise crop yields and resistance to diseases, but also increase risks to native species and even large ecosystems. While the technology for genetically engineering plants has been available for some time, it wasn’t until 1989 that the first transgenic vine was produced, and it will probably be at least another twenty years before we see GM vines on the market. Identifying the appropriate genes, applying them successfully to the various grape varieties, and especially the long slow growth and maturing of the vines, are factors that make evaluating and propagating the plants such a time-consuming process. Yet given current consumer opposition, the controversy may have time to die down.

At face values, it is easy to understand why some scientists have jumped on the GMO wagon. Why not add some frost tolerance genes in your Cabernet Sauvignon vines? You will then be able to grow them beautifully in the UK. Who wouldn’t want consistent high yields with high quality? However, the major reason for GM vines lies in engineering fungal resistance into existing grape varieties. Carol Meredith, of the University of California at Davis points out that we have the choice: either we make GM vines that are resistant to fungal diseases, or we keep spraying chemicals. In California, scientists have been working on producing vines resistant to the deadly Pierce’s disease that threatens the local wine industry.

Because grape vines are not grown from seeds but are vegetatively propagated by grafting on special rootstocks, the risk of GM vines invading neighboring vineyards doesn’t exist. Yet the Napa Valley wine industry has been reluctant to the concept of GMOs. Winemakers believe that if GMOs could produce some benefits, they would also bring a marketing negative in an industry that is based on traditions and relies on nature. There is the fear of the unknown, as well as the concern of GM vines producing a standardized, taste-alike industrial wine which would sever the relationship that wine has with its terroir.

© Lou Vasconi

Smaller wine producers would be at a disadvantage, and large companies with stronger financial resources would gain more power.

For nearly a year, Napa Valley environmentalists and grape growers have been studying the impact of GMOs. They would like to see a ban on all field testing of GMOs until all environmental hazards have been assessed. However, because plants, birds and winds do not follow county boundaries, local regulation is inadequate, and the federal government has not moved aggressively into this arena. Current state and federal laws apply to the control of pesticides and organic farming in California, but do not regulate GMOs.

If GM vineyards are not on the horizon, wines made with GM wine yeast, ML01, have already been introduced to the market. By inserting two foreign genes into the DNA of a particular strain of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations, normally a two step process, could occur at the same time, meaning that no bacteria would be involved. All of this is done for the sake of health. If for some reason the malolactic fermentation is sluggish or gets stuck, the wrong types of bacteria grow, producing chemicals called amines, which cause in some people reactions such as headaches. By eliminating the use of the ML bacteria, there is little chance of producing the undesirable amines, thus banishing the headaches. Nevertheless, the concern is that wine yeasts are unstable, and genetically modifying them could lead to toxicity in the wine, and such toxicity has not yet been tested on animals. Another issue is that GM wine yeast could contaminate native and traditional wine yeast through the air, surface waste and water run off, directly affecting wineries which have chosen to not use it.

Unfortunately, since there is no U.S. labeling regulation on GM wines, we cannot identify them. The only way to stay away from them would be to avoid altogether all wines from the U.S., as well as Canada and Moldova, since they are the only places where the yeast is legally available.

Biotech companies will have to take greater responsibility for the consequences of their science and of the social and environmental costs deriving from it, and governments will have to rectify their relationship with big money and come up with a strong regulatory system before the public feels completely at ease with GMOs.