What is the result when you mix a scientist, a microscope-camera and some drops of wine?

In the case of Sondra Barrett, it's a forthcoming book called "The Soul of Wine."

Barrett, who was trained as a biochemist and spent many years doing research into leukemia, takes microscopic photos of wine molecules, and the result is more like beautiful art work than scientific research. And that's exactly what Barrett intended.

She presented her work at a recent seminar titled, appropriately, "The Soul of Wine," and sponsored by WineSpirit, a Napa-based organization that brings people together to celebrate life's precious moments, at Grgich Hills Cellar. It was a free-wheeling discussion that allowed participants to express their feelings about what they saw in the images projected by Barrett.

Her work has made her a believer that wine has a soul, and she quoted a statement by Wine Spectator columnist Matt Kramer which referred to the soul of fine wine: "It's the voice of earth. Call it terroir, if you like."

She also quoted David Freed, of the UCC Group which owns numerous vineyards in California: "As a grower, I think the soul of wine reflects the combination of nature, man and the divine in partnership Š when and where we drink wine adds to its soul."

Liz Thach, who teaches in the wine business program at Sonoma State, said she sees the soul of wine on three levels. First is the grapevine itself, and second is the fermentation process, "with the yeasts changing sugar into alcohol and sacrificing themselves to birth the wine." The third part involves the person drinking the wine connecting his or her soul with the soul of wine, she said.

Looks completely different

The images Barrett has captured on film are fascinating -- chardonnay made without malolactic fermentation looks completely different from that made with it, and merlot juice before fermentation is a vast contrast with the same juice that has been fermented and aged for four years.

The colors on many of the images are vivid, but the colors don't determine the identity of the wine -- it's the structure of the molecule, Barrett said.

One of her favorites, which she has named "Spirit Dancer," is a 1982 Sterling Vineyards sauvignon blanc, which she described as "sleek, full of life." The late Andre Tchelistcheff once looked at her images and said, "They are the jewels of the wine."

Indeed, one of the images she has captured that looks like a jewel may hold the secret to how wine ages. She photographed drops of wine from 45 years of Inglenook cabernet sauvignon -- ("In the days when they made real wine") -- and found a crystalline form that seemed to link to ageability. "It didn't appear in younger wines," she said, and acknowledged that it didn't appear in every wine, either. "It appears only in some wines -- wines that will last. When wine loses its vitality it takes on a different dimension. It loses its soul."

Starts as biochemist

Barrett started her career as a biochemist and was an assistant professor and research director at University of California Medical School in San Francisco. She also consulted with the Children's Cancer Study Group, conducting research into leukemia.

She was developing diagnostic tools using photographed molecules, and one day she took a break and walked to the nearby California Academy of Sciences where a display of microscopic photos of chemicals of the brain caught her eye. "I never thought of chemicals as having a reality," she said.

She took this thought back to her laboratory and started photographing cancer cells. "The kids wanted to see what their cancer cells looked like, and they wanted to see healthy cells," she said. "They wanted to see what things like vitamin B-12 looked like."

She showed the youngsters various chemicals under a microscope and developed a slide show. "I saw that the kids, just seeing pictures, made them feel better. There was something that touched them that convinced me that there was something more important."

A friend of Barrett, who had seen the photographs and was impressed with them, arranged an appointment at Sterling Vineyards. That was in 1986. "I knew nothing about wine, but I went to the local market and bought a bottle of Sterling merlot, drank it with friends, took a photo (of a drop of wine), and showed it to Valerie Presten (the visitors center manager at Sterling), and then showed it to Theo Rosenbrand (Sterling's winemaker). I remember Theo saying, 'The merlot looks like it tastes.'"

They arranged for her to have a two-year engagement as the artist in residence at Sterling, and she started photographing Sterling's wine. "They asked questions like, 'How is wine from Diamond Mountain different from (wine from) the Three Palms Vineyard?' and I started taking the photos," she said.

Patterns form

"I began to see patterns. Juice is tiny and geometric, as it ferments it gets bigger and as it ages it becomes more complex," she said. "I can tell when it's (the wine) over the hill."

Barrett continued to take microscope photos of wine and said, "Now it's my passion -- sharing the art of science."

She has photographed plants, vitamins and minerals but "wine is the most fascinating," she said. Currently she works with wineries in photographing their wine for display in tasting rooms or to show the progression of aging.

She puts a few drops of wine on glass slides, the kind used in laboratories, allows it to dry and then takes a photograph through the microscope, magnified 25 times. She then enlarges the ensuing photo into the photographs she places on display.

During her presentation, Barrett showed photos of the various tastes people experience -- sugar, citric acid (sour), table salt and caffeine. All had totally different characteristics, and when she identified the caffeine, it drew a laugh from the audience -- it resembled a bunch of sticks standing at various angles, and one comment was, "It looks like someone's hair after a lot of coffee."

Fan of biodynamic farming

Barrett is a fan of biodynamic farming. She showed photos of merlot from a conventionally-farmed vineyard alongside merlot from a biodynamically-farmed vineyard, and the contrast was startling. She also showed a cabernet sauvignon from a biodynamic vineyard at three months of age, at five years and at 25 years, and pointed out that the older cab started to "lose its life."

Does terroir make a difference? Barrett closed her presentation with a look at merlot from three different vineyards -- all looked totally different. And it brought the presentation to full circle, connecting back to the comments about terroir quoted earlier by Matt Kramer and David Freed.

Barrett wants to share her art with others and is currently searching for a publisher for her book, and she's also seeking a showplace where her complete collection can be seen.

For information and a look at some of her work, go to www.mysticmolecules.com

The next WineSpirit program will be Sunday, with Paul Wagner of Balzac Communications discussing "Wine's Historic Role in the Holidays." Charlie Johnson of Helena View Winery will talk on "Living Your Passion: Bringing Your Dreams to Reality" on Nov. 17. For information, go to www.winespirit.org