Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis

10/20/2026

Follow along with the Davis Enology and Viticulture Organization (DEVO) on one of their many immersion trips! Our students enjoyed learning about **e and their sustainability practices as well as catching up with UC Davis V&E alumna.

**e **emaking

10/19/2026

Meet our w**emaker, Leticia Chacón-Rodríguez! Becoming a w**emaker is just one of the many career paths open to V&E students.

What does a w**emaker do?
Every harvest, I witness a remarkable transformation as grapes become w**e. No two vintages are ever the same, and no matter how much experience I gain, Mother Nature always has something new to teach us. As harvest approaches, we taste grapes and measure sugar and acidity to determine the ideal time to pick. I coordinate fruit deliveries with the vineyard team and work closely with our w**ery staff, researchers, and professors to make important w**emaking decisions, from processing methods to yeast selection. Then fermentation begins, bringing the excitement of watching the grapes evolve and tasting the w**es as they develop. Once fermentation is complete, we move into the next stages of blending, stabilization, and aging, with some w**es continuing all the way to bottling.

“As the w**emaker at UC Davis, I bring together science, artistry, and teamwork to create w**es that express their terroir. Alongside my dedicated staff, I also have the privilege of sharing the excitement of discovery with a new generation of students each year.”

What is the best part about being a w**emaker?
One of the most rewarding parts of my role is witnessing the moment when a student discovers something new. I experience that excitement throughout the season as grapes arrive, fermentations begin, and students connect what they have learned in the classroom with what is happening in the cellar. I especially enjoy tasting w**es in fermentation with students and hearing their observations about the aromas and flavors as they develop. Their fresh perspectives are often surprisingly intuitive, reminding me that learning goes both ways. Together, we turn fruit into w**e, guided by science, shaped by nature, and inspired
by curiosity.

Stay tuned for more insight on how UC Davis V&E is shaping the future of w**e through our series!

10/15/2026

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Arran Rumbaugh to the team as the Assistant Professor of Cooperative Extension in Enology.

“I'm excited to be here. I feel very proud that I can be able to honor Anita's legacy and carry out her work and as well as my own program.”

Read more about Dr. Rumbaugh’s commitment to research and her vision translating w**emaking science into practical applications for w**emakers: https://www.w**ebusiness.com/news/article/324250

Stay tuned for more about Dr. Rumbaugh’s work with red blotch and smoke taint as we start sharing faculty research spotlights!

W**e Industry People News Article

10/13/2026

Take a peek at what our viticulture and enology (V&E) students have been up to in VEN 124L: W**e Production Laboratory! 🍇

Want to make w**e your career? UC Davis offers V&E as a major, minor, and Master’s program. Explore more by visiting our website at w**e.ucdavis.edu.

| | **e | |
UC Davis

📸 : Gregory M Urquiaga

Image Description:
1. Students gather around two bins of freshly picked grapes, with a forklift behind them.
2. Students in safety glasses taste and examine bins of harvested white grapes.
3. Students peer into the top of a stainless steel tank.
4. Someone explains w**ery presses to a circle of students.
5. Two students connect a fitting on a press while classmates watch.
6. Students on a catwalk look over an open fermentation tank.
7. A person holds up a jar of cloudy golden juice while students take notes.
8. A person sets up juice samples and tasting glasses as students look on.
9. Two students chat in class, one holding a glass of white w**e.

10/05/2026

This past summer, the Davis Enology and Viticulture Organization (DEVO) traveled to vineyards and w**eries in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. Second-year master’s student Jonathan shares some highlights from the trip.

Check out to learn more about the organization and all the fun trips they take throughout the year. You don't need to be a Viticulture & Enology student to join!

| | **e | |

Image Description 1: Jonathan and classmate standing on coast
Image Description 2: Jonathan and classmates standing in front of a castle in Croatia.
Image Description 3: The ocean and coastline.
Image Description 4: A cove with bright blue water and sand.
Image Description 5: W**e Barrels in a room.
Image Description 6: Vineyard with DEVO members standing on the path.
Image Description 7: Students observing and standing near w**e barrels.
Image Description 8: Two students drinking coffee.
Image Description 9: Students at a w**ery looking at w**e glasses.

09/30/2026

For more than 60 years, two of UC Davis’ most important microbiology collections have lived in separate departments. Thanks to support from the American Vineyard Foundation and Washington State W**e Commission, they’re finally coming back together.

The UC Davis Viticulture & Enology W**e Microbe Collection, home to more than 3,300 strains of yeast, bacteria, and fungi, is merging with the Phaff Yeast Culture Collection to create a single searchable resource of more than 13,000 strains. This unified collection will support researchers, w**eries, and industry partners around the world.

What makes this project especially exciting is the history behind it. The collections include strains that helped rebuild California’s w**e industry after Prohibition and represent an extraordinary legacy of microbial diversity. At the same time, they continue to drive innovation in w**emaking, brewing, sake production, and biofuel research.

Congratulations to our faculty, staff, and supporters for preserving more than a century of microbial history while creating new opportunities for discovery and innovation.

Read more in our Fall newsletter: https://w**e.ucdavis.edu/about/news-events/department-news #/news/f6e05978-d045-4705-a68c-79bfa4debf0d

09/28/2026

Fall 2026 has started! 🎉 We kicked off the quarter with orientation, Dos Coyotes, and a welcome BBQ organized by the best advisor on campus, Liz!

Welcome to the friendliest corner of campus 🤗

We hope you take advantage of all the grape 🍇opportunities UC Davis has to offer! | | **e | |

09/25/2026

Hear more about Elise's summer abroad!

Which study abroad program did you participate in?
Vienna—Crossroads of Central Europe
where we studied history for 4 weeks. This program helped me deepen my passion for history, explore new places, and immerse myself in a new culture.

What was your favorite experience while studying abroad?
My favorite memory is hiking nine miles in the Austrian Alps with my professor and classmates.

What is an advantage to studying abroad through UC Davis?
Studying abroad through a UC Davis program allows us to have access into museums, government buildings, and exhibits regular tourists don’t have access to. I went to 20 museums!

Would you recommend that V&E students study abroad?
Yes, V&E students are able to dabble in all different fields of study. Going abroad in the summer is a good way to earn general education credit and experience traveling abroad.

Stay tuned to hear more about how our V&E students spent their summers!

Image Description #1: Elise in a vineyard with photos within the word "Vienna".
Image Description #2: Elise posing in a mountain town with a lake.
Image Description #3: Elise hiking in the mountains.
Image Description #4: Elise at the United Nations Headquarters in Vienna.
Image Description #5: Cityscape of Vienna.
Image Description #6: Elise posing in front of the parliament building in Vienna.
Image Description #7: Sunrise in mountains.

l | | | .in.vienna

09/23/2026

Happy anniversary to the Robert Mondavi Institute for W**e and Food Science (RMI)! 🥂

In 2001, the Mondavi family made a generous $25 million gift to UC Davis to advance the study of w**e, brewing, and food sciences. That seed investment has since grown into a five-building complex and vineyard, where faculty continue to make groundbreaking discoveries and continue training the next generation of industry leaders.

Read more about this transformative gift here: https://caes.ucdavis.edu/news/robert-mondavi-institute-w**e-and-food-science-leading-way-25-years-later

Image Description: A sunny day in the vineyard with the RMI buildings in the background.

09/21/2026

Meet Maaike! A 2nd year V&E Masters Student who was selected to visit Portugal as a Cork Supply Scholar to learn about the process of producing cork for w**e bottles.

The Cork Supply Scholarship is a three day program made up of students from all over the world. It was created to get more V&E students and future grape and w**e industry professionals interested in how cork is produced.

On the first day, Maaike and the other scholars ventured into the cork forest. It takes 30 years for a tree to be ready for harvest and they are harvested every 9 years. Most cork farms are family owned and rented to companies.

The group took a bus to Porto, where the main factory is located, to see how the cork is processed. Maaike observed how modeling and other technologies were being used to predict the level of cork taint.

Maaike and the other students tasted a variety of w**es. They were identifying differences in the w**e based on the cork used in bottling. The type of cork influences the amount of oxygen that gets into the bottle and therefore into the w**e.

Maaike shared opinions on the environmental aspects of w**e corks. For Europeans, she thinks it is a sustainable practice. For those who operate far from the few cork production sites, it is not as sustainable. Maaike mentioned in her home country of Australia there is a rise in bagged w**e and screw caps are the standard w**e closure.

Thank you, Cork Supply

Image Description #1: Maaike holding a glass of w**e with blue skies in the background.
Image Description #2: Slabs of cork
Image Description #3: The cork forest, one tree half shaved in the foreground.
Image Description #3: Image of a worker hand punching cork
Image Description #4: Tubs of corks
Image Description #5: Samples of different corks for smelling.
Image Description #6: Maaike and the other scholars posing for a photo in front of a vineyard