When Alexandra Leite arrived on the UC Davis campus as a viticulture and enology major last year, it was a bit intimidating navigating her new world. 

But when she was teamed up with an upper-division mentor through the Davis Enology and Viticulture Organization, or DEVO, all the possibilities of the major opened up as she met other students and attended events.

This year she is the student club’s Under 21 representative and in charge of matching new students and mentors.

Nestled among the rolling hills of Napa Valley and surrounded by award-winning wineries like Opus One and Robert Mondavi lies a gem of the research and winemaking world: Oakville Station.

Overseen by the Department of Viticulture and Enology at University of California, Davis, the 40-acres of land is home to a lab, research facility and two vineyards producing sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and other grapes.

Anita Oberholster, a wine chemist and professor of Cooperative Extension in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at University of California, Davis, died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. She was 50.

Known as a dedicated educator, researcher, mentor and colleague, Oberholster joined UC Davis in 2011 with a background in both wine chemistry and sensory science. She was also charged with working with the industry in her role as a Cooperative Extension specialist supporting the thousands of wineries in California. 

Associate professor and department chair Ben Montpetit has been appointed the Richard M. Kunde Chair in Viticulture and Enology, which is named for a storied alum and pioneering Sonoma County grape farmer. 

Montpetit, a yeast biologist who became chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology in January, said the endowed chair position provides reliable and flexible support for students, research and teaching.  

Silver Oak Cellars, a family-run business known for its cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir wines, donated $100,000 to the University of California, Davis, to support research on how characteristics like soil chemistry and location affect wines that we enjoy and attribute to specific places, including but not limited to Napa Valley. 

The money will help fund Department of Viticulture and Enology research to better understand how the same grapes planted in different locations can result in wines that have distinctive flavor, texture and other sensory attributes. 

On May 30, 2024, under the shade of the UC Davis Arboretum’s 80-plus-year-old cork oak grove, a rarely seen exhibition of cork harvesting took place. This traditional practice, unfamiliar to most Americans, involves the careful stripping of a cork oak’s outer bark without harming the tree. Commonly performed by skilled craftspeople in Portugal and Spain, the demonstration was organized for students in the “Technology and Winery Systems” (VEN 135) class, regional wine industry stakeholders, and various campus affiliates.

Online classes, masking requirements and isolation guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic made it hard for UC Davis students to connect and network.

Students in the Department of Viticulture and Enology sought to change that dynamic and they formed Women in Wine, a group for women and those who exist in women’s spaces to connect with others in production and winemaking. 

Ben Montpetit, a yeast geneticist and biochemist, is the new chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at University of California, Davis.

Montpetit joined UC Davis in 2016 and became department vice chair in 2021.

In his new role, he plans to enhance student offerings, continue to advance diversity efforts and foster investment in students, faculty, staff and department operations.

Wild North American grapes are now less of a mystery after an international team of researchers led by the University of California, Davis, decoded and catalogued the genetic diversity of nine species of this valuable wine crop.

The research, published in the journal Genome Biology, uncovers critical traits that could accelerate grape breeding efforts, particularly in tackling challenges like climate change, saline environments and drought.

If you’ve ever taken a drive through California’s picturesque vineyards and pastoral farms, you know it’s impossible to imagine the Golden State without them. But California wouldn’t have become a dream destination for foodies and oenophiles without research from the University of California.