Pinot Noir for a Better World

Does being spiritual help make a better world and produce even better wines? What an abrupt start to argue a concept that can make some sense very soon. I am talking about Genomics here.

Source: www.lesechos.fr

It is one of the video clips by Barry Schuler that got me thinking. In the video, Barry talks about his belief in Spiritualism (not to be mistaken with religion) and mentions how ‘The’ great architect has created ‘genome’. And what is a genome-“all the DNA that is there in an organism. It is the code of life”.  Going further, Barry explains how just like the binary system of using only 2 digits is the basis to all digital technology, a genome consists of 4 representative letters that form a series of base pairs. These base pairs are nothing but simply a combination of the above 4 letters on which the complex programming of our DNA and eventually every function in our body or any other organism is based. It is this programming that determines who we are, the way we look and also gives us our individual characteristics.

Source: Google Images

Too much babble? Well let’s consider this- “the genome in our beloved Pinot Noir consists of 30,000 genes and 500,000 base pairs”. And why is it of any interest to the wine fraternity? Now let’s assume that we have understood this entire genome. From understanding problems like what happens to a rootstock when Phylloxera starts messing with it to learning about each varietal so as to pinpoint the reason for their unique characteristics, we can avoid ‘fixing square pegs in round holes’. This means that without employing any damaging practices we can still mould the personality of a certain wine into what we want as we would exactly know which gene arrangement is responsible for what! Accordingly, wine styles can be modified to cater to target markets with specific needs. But as these wines are meant to make the world better by avoiding tampering with the nature, will it make sense for the capitalists to jump in and make millions out of the R&D that they’ll put in the coming years? Well, they surely can but hopefully with a sense of passing the benefits to the end consumer and also ensuring sustainability! Talking about sustainability, it is another burning topic in the wine arena these days. Hope to write on that soon.