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Wine starts and can end in the vineyard; mites/insects (visible and microscopic), diseases, mildew, and Mother Nature make it a miracle wine ever makes it onto the shelf.

Even as vineyard managers adopt Biodynamic®, organic or sustainable vineyard practices, there will always be challenges to maintaining healthy vines. The most recognized disaster of the 19th century for the wine industry was phylloxera; a disease in which a small bug feeds on the roots of vines. With no known totally effective preventative measures, research discovered there were ways to minimize the phylloxera impact; the solution was and is through grafting species onto rootstocks that are phylloxera resistant. This is just one example of the constant need for research to sustain the wine industry.

Most research today involving vines; farming practices; diseases and pest control methods, are conducted by universities throughout the U.S. However, there are some private research efforts too. In the winery there are many techniques that impact/imbue the characteristics of wine. But, research is ongoing to develop new varieties that will meet certain grower and winery specification for improved disease control, aromas, User Testing , yields and climate change adaptations. Additionally, there is ongoing efforts to develop vines that can withstand extreme temperatures, poor soil conditions (such as salinity), and altitude effects. University of California-Davis' Dr. Andrew Walker is very involved with the issue of grapes grown in saline in soil.

As an aside. I recently tasted my first "Cotton Candy" table grape and it does taste like cotton candy. This grape was patented and became commercially developed in Bakersfield, California through a very complicated commercial vine breeding program, writes Michaellen Doucleff in "The Salt" August 6, 2013. This example of great research is not rare, it wasn't that long ago when all watermelons had seeds. Today you can hardly buy a watermelon with seeds. New apple varieties having come to market over the past few decades also point to successful research and breeding results.

There are many wine grape research projects underway at major universities in the U.S. After talking to many university researchers in the field of wine grapes and vines, one impactful effort on wines are the research efforts at the University of California-Davis (UCDavis). There are professors at UCDavis, and other universities, doing research on many wine related projects. Some projects are about finding farming methods, rootstock, etc. what will preserve the health of vineyards. There is continuing work on Pierce's Disease and ongoing research on a wide range of rootstock issues (nematodes, fanleaf, drought and salt resistance) and to a lesser extent on Powdery Mildew. This work will never become obsolete because plant DNA and pathogens will always evolve.

There are many universities doing wine grape research in addition to UCDavis. Some of the other great schools doing wine grape research are: California State University-Fresno, Cornell University, University of Arkansas, Washington State University, Oregon State University and Cal Poly State University-San Louis Obispo. With 125 years as a research university in enology and viticulture, UCDavis has the history behind them.