On Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:56:52 -0700 (PDT), quotes 2009
> wrote:

>But wouldn't the dna of the grape = nature? And the soil=nurture?

In practical terms, no.

Grapes used for making wine are the result of centuries of selection
by man. Sure, they share a lot of DNA that we have no control over.
But the bits important for winemaking have been selected for.

OTOH man has little influence on the soil at the the sort of depths
where vines have their roots. And even less control of the macro
climate and the direction of slope where the vines are grown.

OK, man still select where to plant vines, but those terroirs woudl
still exist whether planted or not. If it were not for man the wine
grape varieties would not exist at all.

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher