Greenville Magazine - August 2008 - (Page 51) Reserve Your Holiday Party NOW! When it Comes to the Vine, the Nose Knows By Rhonda Morris tart Your Week S ar at Stell ½ Price Featured /white) Bottles (red t Ladies Flighight “Tasting” N due $10 Fonhocolate) C (Cheese or Who doesn’t love a sweet-tempered golden retriever or an energetic black lab? Even for “cat people,” it’s difficult to find anything to dislike about these smart, loving animals. Luckily for some, a few of these companions are put to more industrious uses than friendly pets. They fill their days as service dogs assisting the disabled and performing daring search and rescue missions nationwide. Their keen senses of smell and their determination have proven invaluable. So, what on earth do these cute, powerful doggie noses have to do with wine, you ask? As it turns out, we humans are not the only creatures who have an affinity for the grape! These days, one of the biggest concerns in many California vineyards has proven to be the invasive mealybug. Since the 1990s, this tiny transient has spread north from Southern California to Napa and Sonoma Counties. As these buggers feed on the vines, they leave behind an excretion called “honeydew.” This honeydew is the perfect environment for mold and other diseases to develop, eventually destroying the vine and its fruit – a very expensive dilemma! The problem is, we can’t really see them. Once we figure out that these microscopic bugs have taken hold of a vine, it can be too late. A large portion of the vineyard or even the entire crop is often unusable for wine. And none of us wants that! Enter the doggie nose. To try to get a handle on this problem, some growers in Napa and Sonoma Counties have helped fund a research program with the Assistance Dog Institute in Santa Rosa, Calif. (www.assistancedog.org). The institute was created in order to breed and train dogs to help the disabled. But a few growers wondered if these dogs could use their incredible olfactory systems to sniff out the scent of mating mealybugs undetectable by humans. If successful, these animals will prove a huge benefit to the wine industry. Not only will they save money and crops by detecting the insect early-on, but they will help to protect the environment by reducing the use of chemicals and insecticides needed to get rid of these pests. Rather than spraying an entire vineyard, the treatment can be limited to only the infected areas. So far, results have been positive. These pups easily zoned in on the mealybugs’ mating scent in the research lab. In the vineyard, however, several challenges await them. Shifting winds and canine distractions like rabbits and birds will be the biggest obstacles to overcome. But despite these distractions, it looks promising. Dogs have been able to accurately pick up on the scent hidden throughout the vineyard, in jars and even on sticks that have been attached to vines. The results are not yet conclusive, but definitely exciting. These dogs could turn out to be the latest, greatest safeguard for our vineyards, and I expect not just from the mealybug. So once again, search and rescue dogs are happy to come to our aid– rescuing the wine industry. Man’s best friend, indeed. Mon Tue g on (special pricin hite) flights red/w featured Wed 864.349.1303 20 North Main St., Greenville Next to Trio, upstairs www.stellarwinebar.com auGust 2008 | Greenville MaGazine 51 http://www.stellarwinebar.com http://www.assistancedog.org http://www.stellarwinebar.com
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