AU2004214538A1 - Seedless grape - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

SPATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE

SPECIFICATION

FOR A STANDARD

PATENT

00 en

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicants: Robert Garry Trezise and Peter Michael Burne Actual Inventors: Robert Garry Trezise Peter Michael Burne Address for Service: MADDERNS, 1st Floor, 64 Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention title: SEEDLESS

GRAPE

Details of Associated Provisional Application No: 2003905224 dated 25 t September 2004.

The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us.

(PatAU131) BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF THE INVENTION C The present invention relates to a seedless grape variety, which is a bud sport of a Chardonnay grape. A seedless variety has considerable advantages in wine-making in that the wine being produced can be left on the skins for longer than in the case of conventional Chardonnay clones, without developing the bitter taste associated with 00 seeds.

I The improved grape of the present invention was first noticed, in January of 1999, by one of the inventors, who observed a vine having unusually small bunches with small berries in a Chardonnay planting.

A year later, a viticultural consultant suggested that the vine should be investigated, as it might be of value in winemaking. A test sample of two litres of wine was produced from the grapes. The wine showed potential, despite receiving insufficient attention during the winemaking process.

In the next year's vintage (2001), further tests were conducted. The grapes were found to contain 12 g/l total acid at 13.9 Be, which was a remarkable result. The grapes were made into wine in the laboratory, and this time the wine appeared very promising. The wine analysis was 8.0 g/l total acid, pH was 2.85 (remarkably good), and the alcohol content was 13.9%.

The mother vine was DNA typed by the Australian Wine Research Institute, using six microsatellite loci, and found to match the genotype of material designated as Chardonnay, as recorded in the databases.

During the dormancy period of 2001, the mother vine was tested by Waite Diagnostics and no vitiviruses or phytoplasmas were detected.

In spring of 2001, sufficient vines were propagated from the mother vine to plant two 100-metre-long rows on Paulsen rootstock, and one row on their own roots. These new vines were regularly examined, through to harvest 2004, for any variation from the mother vine. Three vines each produced an individual cane (shoot) that reverted 0 back to the original Chardonnay. These canes had normal sized berries and bunches

(N

and had normal leaves. This reversion rate is within normally accepted tolerances.

SAll the other canes produced on the three vines remained seedless, as did all the N 5 canes on the other 190 vines.

00oO c, Meanwhile, in late 2002, further trials were carried out with a planting of the seedless _clone at the Riverland Vine Improvement Committee's Monash property in South SAustralia. It is covered by a non propagation agreement with the Riverland Vine 10 Improvement Committee.

(Ni During vintage 2003, wine was produced from the mother vine and its young progeny. The yield from the mother vine was 31kg (equivalent to 38.5 t/ha), and winemakers examining the wine produced from the seedless grapes were favourably impressed.

During the 2004 vintage, wine was again produced from the mother and daughter seedless vines, with similar results.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a seedless Chardonnay grape, and in particular to a seedless Chardonnay grape having a readily apparent morphological marker. That morphological marker is a characteristic and very distinctive leaf shape, whereby the petiolar sinus forms an open which serves to "fingerprint" the variety. The seedless Chardonnay grape specifically described herein is a bud sport of I1OV1 Chardonnay, and can be readily distinguished from all other Chardonnay clones by its unique leaf marker, even before examining its equally distinctive bunches and berries. It can therefore be easily identified. As far as the applicants are aware, that is not possible for any other Chardonnay clones, and currently not even DNA analysis can distinguish between clones of Vitis vinifera varieties.

This seedless Chardonnay sport was originally produced from I10V1 Chardonnay grafted to 140 Ruggeri rootstock. I10V1 is the Australian code for FPMS6, which was introduced to Australia from Foundation Plant Material Services, University of California, Davis, USA. It is readily available from nurseries. The seedless C1 5 Chardonnay sport has the following characteristics: It has been DNA tested to be Chardonnay by the Australian Wine Research 00 r Institute.

S It produces wine with characteristic Chardonnay flavours and bouquet.

Bud bursts are in spring, at nearly the same time as known Chardonnay I10V1 and other clones. For example, in 2004, bud bursts for the seedless Chardonnay were just 6 days later than for conventional Chardonnay.

It matures at the same time as Chardonnay, and has the same growing habit as Chardonnay.

It produces white grapes that have the distinctive flavours that characterise most other Chardonnay clones.

It produces bunches that have all the hallmarks of Chardonnay, except that they are approximately one-third the weight (ie about 55g, compared to about 145g).

It produces berries that are much smaller than I10V1 Chardonnay berries (ie each berry weighs around 0.44g, as compared to a weight of around 1.3g for I10V1 Chardonnay).

It produces berries that contain, in most cases, aborted seeds although, in a very small number of cases, there will be the occasional normal-sized seed. To the untrained person, they appear virtually seedless. The term "seedless", as used throughout the specification and claims, has this meaning, and does not necessarily indicate that the berries completely lack seeds.

The leaves, although otherwise similar to other Chardonnay varieties, have the petiolar sinus forming a distinctive open with slight parallel veining adjacent to the sinus. This enables the clone to be readily distinguished from all other Chardonnay clones.

These distinctive characteristics are clearly shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 is a side-byside comparison of bunches of Chardonnay I10V1 grapes, and the leaves of that variety, with bunches of the present seedless grape, and the leaves of this new cclone.

SFrom the presence of this morphological marker, being the characteristic and very distinctive leaf shape, it can be surmised that the gene for the seedless characteristic 00 is closely linked to that for the leaf shape marker.

00 The seedless gene mutation is unusual, in that the berries of the seedless Chardonnay still set well.

The berries of the present variety have a higher acid content than that of conventional Chardonnay varieties at the same stage of maturity. This is a particular advantage for grapes grown in high temperature regions, where low acid content seems to be a problem.

The present variety tends to produce much smaller bunches and much smaller berries than other Chardonnay clones. The smaller size of the berries means that there will be a higher ratio of skin to fruit volume. However, this is not a problem, because the lack of seeds means that there are still similar proportions of flesh. In fact, the higher ratio of skin to fruit volume can be advantageous, in that some significant flavour components are mainly present in the vicinity of the skin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Various tests have been carried out to characterise the seedless Chardonnay of the present invention.

Firstly, the morphological characteristics have been observed.

Most significantly, there is a morphological marker, being the distinctive and characteristic leaf shape. This is shown in Figure 1, where the leaf shape of the seedless Chardonnay is compared to that of the parent variety (Chardonnay I1OV1).

0 The petiolar sinus of the leaf of the seedless Chardonnay is a distinctive open "V" N with slight parallel veining adjacent to the sinus.

The seedless variety has the same growing habit as Chardonnay, and produces bunches of white grapes which have all the hallmarks of Chardonnay, except that the bunches are approximately one-third the weight (ie around 55g, compared to around S145g). The berries are much smaller than I10V1 Chardonnay berries (ie about 0.44g, as compared to about 1.3g). The berries appear to be virtually seedless.

A sample of the seedless Chardonnay was DNA typed by the Australian Wine Research Institute, using six microsatellite loci. Its DNA profile was compared with DNA profiles of other grapevine material contained in a database of the Australian Wine Research Institute. The source grapevine material used to produce the database was drawn from collections held by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) at Merbein, Victoria, and by the South Australian Research and Development Institute at Nurioopta. This material, in turn, was originally received from overseas countries, together with a description of the material as representing a certain named variety of grapevine. Subsequently, most of that material (in particular, the material held by CSIRO at Merbein) was subject to independent expert ampelographic verification. The genotype of the seedless variety of the present invention was found to match the genotype of the material designated as Chardonnay in the database.

Samples of the seedless Chardonnay, supplied as dormant canes, were PCR tested by Waite Diagnostics for the presence of the following viruses and phytoplasmas: grapevine leafroll-associated viruses 1 to 5, Rupestris stem pitting associated viruses 1 and 2, Grapevine Vitiviruses A, B and D, grapevine fleck viruses A and B, Grapevine Fanleaf virus and phytoplasmas (including Australian Grapevine Yellows). None were detected.

The berries of the seedless Chardonnay were found to have a lower pH than I10V1 Chardonnay at the same stage of maturity.

Because the berries are virtually seedless, less tannins are present. The berries also 4 have a relatively low phenolic content.

a) N 5 During the 2002 vintage, a winemaking trial was conducted, in which the seedless Chardonnay and a seeded Chardonnay variety were compared. The trial yielded the 00 CM following data: SFruit weight (total delivered) 0 10 Seedless: 33.65kg Seeded: 119.35kg Bunch weight (based on a sample of 62-77 bunches) Seedless: 69.48g Seeded: 113.71g Berry weight (based on a sample of a 195-198 berry bunch) Seedless: 0.483g Seeded: 1.149g Extraction rate (NB: Pressing was conducted using a water bag press applying a pressure of 225 kPa greater extraction rates would probably be achievable under commercial conditions using greater quantities of fruit) Seedless: 594 L/tonne (unclarified following pressing) 535 L/tonne (clarified following racking) Seeded: 595 L/tonne (unclarified following pressing) 536 L/tonne (clarified following racking) Tuice analysis (NB: Fruit was stored at 00 C for a period of 72 hours prior to crushing.

A substantial amount of tartaric acid may have been lost during this period due to potassium bitartrate precipitation) Seedless: Total Soluble Solids 23.00 Brix, 12.80 Baume pH 3.16 Titratable Acidity 6.6g/L as tartaric acid Seeded: Total Soluble Solids 23.40 Brix, 13.00 Baume pH 3.38 Titratable Acidity 4.58g/L as tartaric acid

Claims (12)

1. A seedless Chardonnay grapevine, being a bud sport from a conventional Chardonnay variety and having a morphological marker, said marker being a r characteristic leaf shape whereby the petiolar sinus forms an open the term "seedless" having the meaning ascribed herein. OO 00

2. A seedless Chardonnay grapevine according to claim 1, being a bud sport from Chardonnay I10V1 (as defined herein).

3. A seedless Chardonnay grapevine according to claim 1 or 2, having significantly smaller berries than those of the parent vine from which said bud sport is derived.

4. A seedless Chardonnay grapevine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the berries of which have a pH which is significantly lower than for the parent vine from which the bud sport is derived.

A seedless Chardonnay grapevine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is identifiable as Chardonnay by DNA testing.

6. Seedless Chardonnay berries, being the fruit of a seedless Chardonnay grapevine which is a bud sport from a conventional Chardonnay variety, said bud sport having a morphological marker being a characteristic leaf shape whereby the petiolar sinus forms an open and the term "seedless" having the meaning ascribed herein.

7. Seedless Chardonnay berries according to claim 6, wherein said conventional Chardonnay variety is I10V1 (as defined herein).

8. Seedless Chardonnay berries according to claim 6 or 7, being significantly smaller than those of the parent vine from which said bud sport is derived.

9. Seedless Chardonnay berries according to any one of claims 6 to 8, said berries having a pH which is significantly lower than for the berries of the parent vine from which the bud sport is derived. l 5

10. Seedless Chardonnay berries according to any one of claims 6 to 9, which are identifiable as Chardonnay by DNA testing. 00

11. A seedless Chardonnay grapevine according to any one of claims 1 to 4 substantially as described herein and with reference to the accompanying drawing.

12. Seedless Chardonnay berries according to any one of claims 6 to substantially as described herein and with reference to the accompanying drawing. DATED this 24 th day of September, 2004. Robert Garry Trezise and Peter Michael Burne By their Patent Attorneys MADDERNS