OF3-12/19/07 8:25 AM CRACKING OPEN THE DNA SECRETS OF PINOT NOIR.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
Some Italian scientists, Riccardo Valesco and his colleagues at the Instituto Agrario San Michele All'Adige, have charted the genetic makeup of a particular kind of grape, the one called Pinot Noir --- and has found more than two million genetic variants, or molecular markers.
SOT - Brian Dilkes, project scientist at the University of California at Davis Genome Center
"It may be that wine grapes are actually much more complicated organisms than one might think by just counting up the number of genes."
You know how it is with Pinot Noir.
SOT - NAT of Paul Giamatti's character Miles from "Sideways"
"Ah, its flavors --- they're just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle."
That's not even a real person. It's Paul Giamatti's character Miles in the movie "Sideways."
Not for nothing has Pinot Noir been called the "heartbreak grape."
SOT - NAT of Paul Giamatti's character Miles from "Sideways"
"It's a hard grape to grow, as you know, right? It's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early."
Oh, Miles, how you do go on. But this is a breakthrough, says Brian Dilkes.
SOT - Brian Dilkes
"There's an enormous opportunity to both improve upon pinot while not touching the diversity that affects flavor and aroma, perhaps improve it for disease resistance or agronomic performance."
He's project scientist at the University of California, Davis Genome Center.
SOT - Brian Dilkes
"Disease in grapes in general --- it's a constant battle between quality and quantity, right? And who wouldn't like to be able to buy a decent bottle of pinot for less than 45 bucks?"
You can't grow Pinot Noir just anywhere, as we learned from Miles in the "Sideways" movie.
SOT - NAT of Paul Giamatti's character Miles from "sideways"
"Pinot needs constant care and attention. And in fact, it can only grow in these really specific little tucked-away corners of the world."
But now, with the genome charted?
SOT - Brian Dilkes
"The power of having the whole genome is to say, 'Here are the genes that are important for flavor and aroma. Let's not disturb that biochemistry --- and let's target disease resistance, specifically.'"
A votre sante, Monsieur Pinot Noir!
The Osgood File. Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. December 19th, 2007. |
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