A grape developed by University of Florida researchers is gaining popularity among wine connoisseurs and may contribute to a wine-making boom in Florida and Texas, reports The Independent Florida Alligator newspaper.

Commercial winemakers have long avoided the US South-East. Its hot, humid climate and rampant grape diseases have made it difficult for vintners in Florida and along the Gulf Coast to operate with much success.

But Dennis Gray, a developmental biology professor at the university, believes this may be changing. By hybridising the Golden Muscat, a grape used to make table wines, with several species of disease- and fungus-resistant native Floridian grapes, the University of Florida bred a new variety that is attracting worldwide attention more than 30 years after it was first created.

"Its popularity is just starting," Gray said. "I'll go out on a limb and say that it produces a spectacular wine."

Gray called himself a "promoter" of the wine and cited the double gold medals it won in international competitions in 1998, 2001 and 2002 as evidence of its quality.

For the complete story, go to http://www.alligator.org