Red, White, or Blush - Which Wine Appeals to Your Genes?
 "The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learnt to cultivate the olive and the vine." - Thucydides, Greek Historian, 5th Century B.C.
Wine is an elegant drink that was used instead of water during the Middle Ages. Now it is imbibed primarily for pleasure throughout the world. Wine is created through two processes of biotechnology - grape selectivity and the fermentation process.
Grapes have been, and continue to be, crossbred so much that no one knows exactly how many grape varieties there are right now! Many wine experts agree that it is the special type of grape that "makes" the wine. In fact, without all of the varieties of grapes, there would be little hope of obtaining as many different types of wine as we have today. By determining the traits that various growers covet, the genetic makeup of the grape has been greatly modified by crossbreeding.
 Once the grapes have been grown, the choice between red and white wine is the next step. Thanks to scientific inquiry, there is a major difference in the production of these wine types: crushing the whole grape produces red wine, whereas the skin of grapes used in the production of white wine is discarded and only the juice is used.
The fermentation process is a more recent form of biotechnology. Adding a living organism, malolactic bacteria, allows for wines to have a smoother and less acidic taste. It has always been believed that the longer wine is aged, the better the product will be. This is true, thanks to the malolactic bacteria and a whole bunch of time. Testing the different interactions of grapes, bacteria and carbonation took much time and energy, but is still an ongoing process of biotechnology. |
