Okanagan vintners, take note: The University of B.C. is looking for new ways to make a better wine.

The solution, apparently, is in the genes.

"We're trying to develop new sophisticated tools so growers can monitor the interaction of the grape vine genome with the natural environment and how growers are managing the vines," Steven Lund, assistant professor in the university's Wine Research Centre, said in an interview Wednesday.

The centre will receive $3.4 million in funding from Genome BC and Genome Canada for a grape and wine genomics project.

"For the same price, winemakers should achieve better quality and better consistency" as a result of the project, Lund said.

Research at the university aims at rewriting the rules for the age-old tradition of winemaking, and unlocking the genetic secrets of grapevines and wine yeasts while helping winemakers boost the value of their wines.

The researchers said their work is intended to harness the power of genomics to unlock fundamental gene functions within grapevine and yeast cells, thus helping growers and winemakers improve production techniques and cut costs in an industry that's worth $4.2 billion in overall sales in Canada, including $1.3 billion in domestic wines.

The work will focus on using genomics to identify protein biomarkers that help viticulturists (grape growers) monitor how the vine and fruit respond to natural and human-made environmental changes.

Lund, one of the lead investigators, said current knowledge of the berry is limited, although growers now measure pH and sugar levels to estimate harvest dates, but not until late in the growing process.

However, there are no means now to monitor the impact that management techniques such as fertilization, irrigation, and leaf-thinning have on grape ripening and flavour development early in the growing season.

"If they apply treatment one season and do the same the next season and get a different result, they don't know why," Lund said.

He said the main goal of the research is to devise a practical hand-held device that will help growers monitor proteins in the vine or grape berry at any time during the season to determine what management practices should be applied.

He said a similar device, currently used in medical research, must be adapted for viticulture applications.

"The device would look for indications of [such things as] drought and amino acid composition. If drought was detected early, they could irrigate and save recovery time for the plant."

Lund said he believes such a device could be ready for use within two years.

"Our objective is to conduct leading-edge research that will prepare the B.C. wine industry for the future," said Wine Research Centre director Hennie van Vuuren, the project's other lead investigator.

Van Vuuren said the project will also look at the problem of winemakers wasting a lot of money due to spoilage caused by faulty yeasts that don't allow them to achieve a fully dry wine.

Alan Winter, president and CEO of Genome BC, said the research will position B.C. and Canada in the forefront of genomic wine research.

"The knowledge that this team will generate will benefit wine-producing countries around the world."

bmorton@vancouversun.com