Apr 14, 2022

New findings show importance of microbial terroirs in winemaking

A team of researchers published new findings in “A global microbiome survey of vineyard soils highlights the microbial dimension of viticultural terroirs.”

Authors include co-founder and CSO Alberto Acedo at Biome Makers Inc., Ignacio Belda Aguilar, Lars Hestbjerg Hansen, Alex Gobbi, Rüdiger Ortiz-Álvarez, Nabeel Imam with a collaborative effort between Københavns Universitet – University of Copenhagen Aarhus University, and Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The paper was published in Communications Biology on March 18.

The data in this study originated partly from the Microwine project and utilized private microbiome data from Biome Makers’ BeCrop technology. The study analyzed a total of 252 topsoil samples from 200 vineyards collected on four continents between 2015-2018.

The study provided new insights into the microbial community structures of vineyard soils worldwide such as the links between microbial diversity and environmental factors, the impact of spatial distance on a multi-scale perspective, the identification of a global core-microbiome, and the development of a prediction model from different wine-producing countries.

Winemakers depend on the concept of terroir to demonstrate the uniqueness of the taste and flavor of their wine. However, now distinct regional characteristics of the soil microbial communities and ecosystems may attribute to the exceptional qualities of winemaking.

“This research is crucial as we continue to explore the importance of microbial terroir in agricultural production,”Alberto Acedo, co-founder and CSO at Biome Makers, said in a news release. “We are happy to publish that the microbial biodiversity found in different viticultural regions is an important determinant of wine terroir.”

Gobbi, A., Acedo, A., Imam, N. et al. A global microbiome survey of vineyard soils highlights the microbial dimension of viticultural terroirs. Commun Biol 5, 241 (2022). https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03202-5