Dec. 26, 2012 Choosing the perfect wine may soon involve more
than just knowing the perfect vintage and chateau. Differences
in the microbes present on grapes even in different parts of the
same vineyard may contribute to flavor fluctuations in samples
of grapes from different tanks, according to research published
December 26 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Mathabatha
Setati and colleagues from Stellenbosch University, South
Africa. "In the wine industry, the fungal communities on grapes
are especially important. The microbial species present on the
berry may contribute to the fermentation process, and therefore
the aromatic properties of the resulting wine," the authors
explain. For this study, the researchers sampled grapes from
different vines in three well-established commercial vineyards,
each of which used a different farming system -- organic,
traditional or biodynamic- to cultivate the grapes. Across the
three cultivation practices, they found that the same yeast
species dominated in all viney