Oenology is the science and study of wine and winemaking; distinct from viticulture, the agricultural endeavours of vine-growing and of grape-harvesting. The English word oenology derives from the word oinos, "wine" (οἶνος) and the suffix –logia "study of" (-λογία) from the Ancient Greek language. An oenologist is an expert in the fields comprehended by the "Viticulture and Oenology" designation for oenology-training programmes and research centres that include schooling, training, and education in the outdoor and indoors aspects of wine and the making of wine.
Robert Gerald Mondavi was a leading American vineyard operator whose technical improvements and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi aggressively promoted labeling wines varietally rather than generically. This is now the standard for New World wines. The Robert Mondavi Institute (RMI) for Wine and Food Science at the University of California, Davis opened in October 2008 in his honor.
The University of California, Davis, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences was established in 1922 and is one of four colleges on the campus of the University of California, Davis. It offers degrees in twenty-seven undergraduate majors and thirty-three graduate groups. As of January 2014, the College has been overseen by Dean Helene Dillard.
William Vere Cruess was an American food scientist who pioneered the use of fruits to produce fruit-juice beverages, fruit-based concentrates and syrups. He was one of the first investigators in the United States to use freezing storage for preservation of fruits and fruit products. Cruess's research also proved beneficial in the rebirth of the wine industry in California after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933.
Carole P. Meredith is an American grape geneticist and was a professor at the Department of Viticulture and Enology of University of California, Davis.
The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts venue located on the UC Davis campus in unincorporated Yolo County, California. It is named for arts patron and vineyard operator Robert Mondavi, who donated US$10 million to help with the building costs, and who also helped finance The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science on the same campus. The current annual operating budget is approximately US$7.3 million, 58% of which comes from earned income.
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state. California would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world if it were an independent nation.
Warren Winiarski is a Napa Valley winemaker and the founder and former proprietor of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars.
Mike Grgich is a Croatian American winemaker in California. He was born into a winemaking family in the town of Desne on Croatia's coastal region of Dalmatia. He is notable for being the winemaker behind the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that bested several white Burgundy wines in the wine tasting event that became known as the Judgement of Paris. In recognition of his contributions to the wine industry, Grgich was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America's Vintner's Hall of Fame on March 7, 2008. The tribute came at the same time that Grgich was celebrating his 50th vintage of winemaking in the Napa Valley.
Heitz Wine Cellars is a California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success of its Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and has also been described as a "master of Grignolino".
Napa Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier wine regions in the world. Records of commercial wine production in the region date back to the nineteenth century, but premium wine production dates back only to the 1960s.
Maynard Alexander Joslyn was a Russian-born, American food scientist who involved in the rebirth of the American wine industry in California following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Joslyn was also involved in the development of analytical chemistry as it applied to food, leading to the advancement of food chemistry as a scientific discipline.
California wine is wine made in the U.S. state of California, it supplies a vast majority of the American wine production, along with New Mexico wine these American wine regions are longtime examples of viticulture within New World wine. Almost three quarters the size of France, California accounts for nearly 90 percent of production, the production of wine in California is one third larger than that of Australia. If California were a separate country, it would be the world's fourth largest wine producer.
Ann C. Noble is a sensory chemist and retired professor from the University of California, Davis. During her time at the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology, Noble invented the "Aroma Wheel" which is credited with enhancing the public understanding of wine tasting and terminology. At the time of her hiring at UC Davis in 1974, Noble was the first woman hired as a faculty member of the Viticulture department. Noble retired from Davis in 2002 and in 2003 was named Emeritus Professor of Enology. Since retirement she has participated as a judge in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
Maynard Andrew Amerine (1911–1998) was a pioneering researcher in the cultivation, fermentation, and sensory evaluation of wine. His academic work at the University of California at Davis is recognized internationally. His 16 books and some 400 articles contributed significantly to the development of the modern (post-Prohibition) wine industry in California; to the improvement of wine cultures in Europe, South America, and Australia; and to the professional standards for judging and tasting wine.
Christine Barbe is a French winemaker. Sauvignon blanc is her specialty.
Zelma R. Long is an American enologist and vintner. She is considered to be one of the female pioneers in California wine, and was the first woman to assume senior management of a Californian winery, Simi Winery, of which she was president from 1989 to 1996. Long founded and was the first president of the American Vineyard Foundation to help finance research in enology and viticulture and also founded the American Viticulture and Enology Research Network (AVERN). She is the co-owner of Long Vineyards in St. Helena, California, and the Vilafonte Wine Estate in South Africa. Long has particularly been active in research into viticulture in Washington state.
Peter Mondavi, Sr. was an American winemaker.
Dr. Linda Bisson is a trained yeast geneticist who focuses on sugar catabolism and fermentation. She is a retired professor and geneticists from the University of California at Davis. She joined the faculty at University of California at Davis as an assistant professor in 1985 and was the Viticulture and Enology Chair from 1990–1995 and then the Maynard A. Amerine Endowed Chair in Viticulture and Enology from 1997–2008.
Albert Julius Winkler was an American professor of viticulture and one of its leading authorities. His name is famous for the Winkler index, developed with Maynard Amerine.
