The Austrian scientist Dr. Dipl. Ing. Ferdinand Regner (born 1963) is considered a pioneering developer of the genotypic characterisation of grape varieties with the help of molecular genetics. He enrolled at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Wien in 1981, where he studied food and biotechnology. From 1988 he worked in the field of plant biotechnology at the Institute of Applied Microbiology on the topic of "Resistance breeding with genetic engineering methods". His dissertation also dealt with this topic, for which he received the Austrian Biotechnology Prize in 1992. Since 1993 he has been working at the Klosterneuburger Weinbauinstitut, Department of Grapevine Breeding, and has built up a molecular research unit. A database was established which contains microsatellite data of more than 450 grapevine varieties and 1,200 individual genotypes.
The glossary is a monumental achievement and one of the most important contributions to wine knowledge. Of all the encyclopaedias I use on the subject of wine, it is by far the most important. That was the case ten years ago and it hasn't changed since.
Andreas Essl
Autor, Modena