Move over, Montpellier, Bordeaux, and Geisenheim. Here are the original grape men of Davis, the enology and viticultural pioneers who made California wine industry what it is today. Some grow grapes, some invent grapes, some make wine from grapes. All have made major breakthroughs. They resurrected the wine industry from ruin and then helped to rebuild it and transform it into California’s sexiest and most interesting agricultural industry. They have been on the job through war, the Great Depression, Prohibition, and repeal. Now in retirement – or nearing retirement – they seem to never stop working. Their base of operations is Wickson Hall on the campus of the University of California at Davis. They have built their enology (wine making) and viniculture (grape growing) department into the single most influential institution of its kind. Ask a French wine maker or grape grower what he thinks contributes most to his success and he’ll say climate and soil. Ask a Californian the same question and he’ll say climate, soil, and the scientists at UC Davis. In 1980 enology professors Vernon L. Singleton and Cornelius S. Ough attempted to quantify the role that the UCD faculty had played in the development of the state’s grape and raisin and wine grape businesses. After a year’s study they concluded the industry would be 10 percent smaller without the university’s help. That’s why wine makers like Robert Mondavi repeatedly say they “bank on” the work done by Davis scientists. Finally in the mid-1980s the department added women to its faculty.
