November 13, 2025 — In a milestone for Florida agriculture, researchers have grown and harvested wine grapes that are resistant to the main bacterial disease that has long prevented the state from establishing a large-scale wine industry.
Researchers successfully grew five grape varieties in Citra, Florida, that are resistant to Pierce’s disease, a bacterial infection that kills the vines and shrivels the grapes. The effort, led by Ali Sarkhosh, associate professor in the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) horticultural sciences department, produced a harvest of grapes that resulted in 13 cases of wine.
While Florida has a thriving muscadine grape industry, the global market for muscadine wine is small compared to wine made from Vitis vinifera, the species of grapes behind world-famous wines such as cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc and merlot. Florida is already the nation’s second-highest wine-consuming state, behind only California, with an industry valued at $15 billion in 2022. Yet most of the wines served are produced elsewhere, primarily in California, Oregon and Washington.
Sarkhosh said he hopes this research will offer a potential additional crop for muscadine grape farmers. As of 2017, there were 547 Florida vineyards, growing muscadine and hybrid grapes.
“This could be an enormous opportunity for vineyards in Florida to expand into additional types of wine for a wider market,” he said. “This could be the start of a new chapter for Florida wine.”
UF researchers worked with Château Le Coeur, a winery based in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, to make the wine from their harvest. The wine was crafted with 75% Florida-grown fruit and blended with 25% cabernet sauvignon and merlot.
For more information, please contact me or Meredith Bauer-Mitchell at meredithbauer@ufl.edu.
ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
