Breakthrough with first successful harvest of disease-resistant grapes shows hope for a Florida wine renaissance
In a milestone for Florida agriculture, researchers have grown and harvested wine grapes that are resistant to the main bacterial disease that has long prevented the state from establishing a large-scale wine industry.
Researchers successfully grew five grape varieties in Citra, Florida, that are resistant to Pierce’s disease, a bacterial infection that kills the vines and shrivels the grapes. The effort, led by Ali Sarkhosh, associate professor in the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) horticultural sciences department, produced a harvest of grapes that resulted in 13 cases of wine.
While Florida has a thriving muscadine grape industry, the global market for muscadine wine is small compared to wine made from Vitis vinifera, the species of grapes behind world-famous wines such as cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc and merlot. Florida is already the nation’s second-highest wine-consuming state, behind only California, with an industry valued at $15 billion in 2022. Yet most of the wines served are produced elsewhere, primarily in California, Oregon and Washington.
Sarkhosh said he hopes this research will offer a potential additional crop for muscadine grape farmers. As of 2017, there were 547 Florida vineyards, growing muscadine and hybrid grapes.
“This could be an enormous opportunity for vineyards in Florida to expand into additional types of wine for a wider market,” he said. “This could be the start of a new chapter for Florida wine.”
UF researchers worked with Château Le Coeur, a winery based in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, to make the wine from their harvest. The wine was crafted with 75% Florida-grown fruit and blended with 25% cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
The grape used in the wine collaboration is a hybrid called “Erante Noir” and was developed at the University of California, Davis. It carries the genes of sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon.
John Choquer, the owner of Château Le Coeur, emphasized the potential for this collaboration.
“If we are successful in growing in the area and combating Pierce’s disease effectively, it will be a strong growth industry and emerging market for agri-tourism,” he said.
Early tastings point to a dark, fruit-forward wine. Château Le Coeur named this debut wine “Genial,” a French expression for something new and innovative.
He said he is also planting a variety of traditional wine grapes, red and white, at his vineyard. He said his winery is grateful for UF’s support and collaboration as he works to create a Florida-based traditional wine industry.
“This is not a short-term experiment,” Choquer added. “We plan to test more Pierce’s disease-resistant and traditional vinifera varieties, refine vineyard practices and build a new type of wine industry here in Florida. There will be challenges, there will be setbacks, but the potential is also so great. There is such a strong market potential here in Florida.”
The post Breakthrough with first disease-resistant wine grapes shows hope for a Florida wine renaissance, written by Meredith Bauer-Mitchell and Eva Sailly, first appeared in the University of Florida Newsroom.
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
