(Wines&Vines) - Could the best indicator of a wine’s terroir be its microbial load? Dr. David Mills is raising the possibility. The professor with the Department of Viticulture & Enology at the University of California, Davis, presented an early peek at research regarding the possible differences in the microbiota of wines from four of California’s wine regions during UC Davis’ annual Recent Advances in Viticulture and Enology (RAVE) conference on March 14. Mills said there appear to be distinct differences in the microbiota found in wines from different regions as well regional differences in the same varietal wine. Even wines from different locations in Napa County exhibited marked differences in which microbial organisms were present. Mills said rapid advances in the technology used with PCR (or polymerase chain reaction) analysis make it possible to quickly identify hundreds of specific DNA from a sample.