RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS \u2013<\/strong> In a small winery near Raymondville, bottles without formal labels line the wall. The tops are marked simply, with numbers written on red, green and yellow stickers.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What\u2019s in the bottles is part of research underway at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe do research into wine-making and trying to determine how to make the best wines out of the grapes that can be grown here in the Rio Grande Valley,” said George Bennack, executive director of rural business development and co-director for the UTRGV\u00a0Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Advancement<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The color-coded stickers identify the source of the wine and the batch number.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cHere in South Texas and along the Gulf Coast region, there are only a few hybrid grapes that can grow without dying from Pierce’s disease,\u201d Bennack said.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Pierce\u2019s disease<\/a>\u00a0can destroy grapevines.\u00a0Blanc Du Bois<\/a>\u00a0is a white grape and resistant to the disease.\u00a0Black Spanish grape<\/a>, too, is resistant to Pierce\u2019s disease. Both types are being used as part of UTRGV\u2019s wine-making research.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe’re also doing research on a red grape called\u00a0Convent<\/a>,\u201d Bennack said. \u201cIt was originally developed in Brownsville, Texas, at a convent and used for sacrament over the decades there.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Unfortunately, while these grapes are resistant to the disease that kills classic wine grapes, taste is a different matter.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThese particular grapes don’t make great wines,\u201d he said, \u201cso part of our research is to use the grapes that will grow in South Texas \u2013 both native varieties and these hybrid grapes \u2013 and try and develop the best possible wines that we can.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The SARA co-director said there are only about a dozen grape growers in the Rio Grande Valley.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a challenging crop to grow, one, because of disease pressures. But it\u2019s also labor intensive,\u201d Bennack said.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
UTRGV\u2019s wine research isn\u2019t limited to grapes. Wines also were created from prickly pear and citrus.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe enter these particular fruit ones into our (taste) trials, to see how they stack up against grape wines,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In 2018, the UTRGV wine research resulted in 60 different batches, and Bennack explained that one or two variables are changed in side-by-side trials to see which approach produces the best wine.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cOf course, wine taste is subjective, so that\u2019s where the taste trials come in,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s a good idea to do the trials and get kind of a general overall feedback.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Last year, taste trials were held at an event at\u00a0Rio Farms<\/a>\u00a0in Monte Alto. Another trial is expected to be held in April or May.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bennack said the university\u2019s wine research can benefit the Valley\u2019s grape growers in two ways.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThey can sell their grapes to wineries that are farther north, into the Hill Country. Or they have the option of developing their own wineries and selling wine as a value-added product,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/PHOTO-1-RESEARCH-AT-THE-UTRGV-WINERY-_UTRGV-Photo-by-David-Pike_.jpg\")