Wednesday, August 18, 2004

The use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is a touchy subject in Europe. This project pits hopes that modified vines might improve vineyard health, raise wine quality and reduce pesticide use against concerns that the modified vines might cause unintended effects in other vineyards and within the ecosystem in general.

The vines to be tested were genetically engineered in a laboratory to be resistant to fanleaf disease virus, which is a significant problem in France`s cooler wine regions and throughout the world. The virus is transmitted by the tiny nematode Xiphinema index when it feeds on the roots of infected plants and then on healthy ones. Scientists inserted a gene fragment from the virus into the genome of a healthy grapevine rootstock.

French researchers have been trying fight fanleaf disease for a long time, said Guy Riba, scientific director for the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), a government-run network of research centers. "[INRA] looked for means to fight the virus, and when it didn`t find any, it decided to go after the disease with GMOs," Riba said.

Fanleaf disease is estimated to affect more than 25,000 acres of vineyards in France; Burgundy is the hardest hit, followed by Beaujolais, the Rhône Valley and Champagne, said Marc Fuchs, who heads INRA`s GM project in Alsace. Bordeaux is also affected.

The disease reduces crop yields -- by up to 80 percent for sensitive varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Noir -- and also harms wine quality. Infected vines produce grapes that are high in acidity and low in natural sugar, which can result in sour-tasting, unbalanced wines. "It is disastrous for the wine," Fuchs said.

At present, according to INRA, the only effective way to combat the fanleaf virus is to uproot the diseased vines and spray the soil with highly toxic pesticides and herbicides that kill the nematodes and any remaining deep-seated roots. Without fumigation, the nematodes can survive in root pieces for up to six years, experts say.

But the possibility of a GMO field test has many winemakers up in arms. In July, Terre et Vin du Monde, a group that includes some of Europe`s most prestigious wineries, declared its opposition to the introduction of GM vines in nature, even in a small, controlled test.

The 400-member group, which was founded in 2001 to monitor GMO research, argues that the risks of GM field tests outweigh the benefits that might be reaped from a new, fanleaf-resistant clone. The members said they fear that too little is known about the effects of genetic engineering and that more safeguards are needed to prevent contamination of the country`s vineyards.

"All genetic modification can have irreversible consequences," said Daniel Cathiard, of Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, who the head of the Terre et Vin du Monde`s branch in Bordeaux.

The GM vines selected for the Alsace project were originally created as a collaborative effort between INRA and Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), which owns estates in Champagne, where an estimated 5,000 acres suffer from fanleaf disease. But LVMH canceled the project in 1999 and uprooted the GM vines after they became a public issue, and the vines were put in cold storage for possible future use.

Now, to demonstrate that the GM vines are indeed resistant to the fanleaf virus, INRA scientists said they want to plant 70 GM vines along with 1,500 regular vines on a test site in Alsace, less than 1 mile from commercial vineyards near the town of Colmar. The vines will be planted in soil that is trucked in from nearby vineyards and is naturally infested by the virus-carrying nematodes. France`s Ministry of Agriculture is considering the scientists` proposal.

Terre et Vin du Monde has asked for a meeting with agriculture minister Hervé Gaymard to discuss the issue. The coalition includes top-notch French estates such as Bordeaux first-growth Château Mouton-Rothshild, Rhône shipper E. Guigal, Beaujolais négociant Georges Duboeuf, Hugel & Fils of Alsace and Loire grower René Renou, who is also president of France`s Institut National des Appellations Contrôlées wine division, which oversees the country`s Appellation d`Origine Contrôlée wines. Other prominent European members include Piedmont winemaker Aldo Conterno, Lodovico Antinori of Tuscany, German winemaker Egon Müller and Vega Sicilia in Spain.

But the group is apparently fighting an uphill battle. A national scientific review committee that advises the French government has already given the INRA proposal the green light. And Terre et Vin du Monde didn`t have much success with a previous effort. In 2001, the group tried to get the French government to sign a 10-year moratorium on the introduction of any GMOs, including vines and yeast cells, in vineyards or wineries. The government never agreed.

"We fight against people who really believe in GMOs," said Michel Boss, an administrator for the group.

Terre et Vin du Monde said it worries that if GM vines are approved for commercial use one day, the image of their appellations could suffer because the European public is skeptical about GMOs in general.

The winemakers have also argued that the quality of their wines could suffer. "We are afraid that GM vines will stop the biodiversity that is an essential factor of quality in our wines," said Rhône grower Alain Graillot, current president of Terre et Vin du Monde.

For example, if a new GM Pinot Noir clone was to be planted widely in Burgundy because of its disease-resistant properties, it could reduce the diversity of plantings in the region, where many types of clones are believed to boost the complexity of the Pinot Noirs, Graillot said. "We don`t want three years of experimentation to sweep away 100 years of experience," he added.

Terre et Vin du Monde has also raised health questions about wine made from engineered vines and called for more studies to determine GMOs` potential risk to humans.

Instead of turning to GMOs, the organization said it believes that scientists should explore alternative routes leading to nonchemical solutions. "We should understand why the vine falls ill instead of fighting the virus with genetic engineering," said Terre et Vin du Monde founder Anne-Claude Leflaive of Domaine Leflaive in Burgundy. She farms according to the all-natural biodynamic method, which she said has reduced disease in her vineyards. "We aerate the soil and treat the vines with natural products, and the vineyard works better and develops natural resistance to illness."

But INRA points out that the use of GM vines would help reduce the large amounts of toxic pesticides and herbicides that winemakers spray on vineyard land. According to INRA, the United States and France rank first and second in the world, respectively, in pesticide use in agriculture. However, looking only at grapegrowing, "France uses more pesticides than any other viticulture in the world," Fuchs said.

To fight fanleaf virus, French winemakers are allowed to use a pesticide whose main molecule, nematicide, is so potent that its use in agriculture has been banned in countries such as Switzerland and Germany and in some U.S. states, Fuchs said. "It is one of the most dangerous pesticides on earth," he said. "It kills all organisms in the soil, even the micro-organisms that play a big role in the biological life that forms terroir."

Indeed, the INRA scientists believe the Alsace project could lead to major benefits for winemakers all over the world -- and that it can be conducted without any contamination risk. Only the rootstock part of the grapevine is genetically modified; because the grape variety itself isn`t genetically modified, there is "no risk whatsoever for a potential contamination of nearby vineyards through pollen flow," Fuchs said.

Furthermore, the INRA is doing its test with Pinot Meunier, a variety that is not grown in Alsace and could not pollinate with the local varieties, Fuch said. As a further precaution, all buds or flowers will be removed by hand from the non-GM grapevines in the test.

In light of these considerations, a number of individual winemakers in Alsace, Burgundy, Champagne and elsewhere remain open to the idea of INRA`s GM tests. "I am absolutely in favor of research," said Jacques Sipp of Domaine Sipp Mack in Alsace, who isn`t worried about contamination from the test site. He hopes INRA will be successful in developing a GM vine that will help make growers less reliant on pesticides and herbicides. "We must work hand in hand with scientists, and they must be on the cutting edge of research," Sipp said.

Copyright ©2004 Wine Spectator.