In This Issue

• Director's Update
• General Press Release on the Grand Opening
• RMI Board of Executives Established
• Our Story Reviews and Celebrates the History of the Robert Mondavi Institute
• RMI Reproduces Historical Book on Wine for Grand Opening
• Regents’ Lectures
• Three Distinguished Speakers Lecture in the New Sensory Theater at the Grand Opening
• Beer is Best
  
• Wonderful World of Wine Flavors 
• Martin Yan’s Standing-Room-Only Presentation
• Community Women’s Luncheon
  
• A Thank You Note from the Good Life Garden
• Centennial Olive Oil Specially Made for the Grand Opening 
• Oktoberfest Beer: A Delicious Treat for Grand Opening Attendees
• Centennial Reserve
  
• Upcoming Events

Director's Update

By Clare M. Hasler

Clare M. Hasler, UC interim provost Robert Grey, Margrit Biever Mondavi, CAES dean Neal Van Alfen and chancellor Larry Vanderhoef prepare to cut the ribbon at the grand opening

On Friday, October 10, we celebrated a very significant milestone in the life of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at UC Davis — the grand opening of the academic complex and the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing and Food Science Laboratory and the Teaching and Research Winery. Braving a very cold wind, over 750 UC Davis faculty, staff, students and alumni from the departments of Viticulture and Enology, and Food Science and Technology, in addition to members of the Mondavi family, other donors to the project, representatives from the wine, brewing and food industries, and state and local politicians were on hand to recognize and honor those whose commitment and vision have been responsible for moving us one step closer to the goal of positioning UC Davis as the global innovator in university-based wine and food sciences research, education, and engagement.

I can't fully express my gratitude to the incredible team of more than 20 individuals from across campus that made October 10 an absolutely extraordinary event and truly one of the most memorable days of my career. I will let the stories below tell the tale of an incredible day! 

Clare

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General Press Release on the Grand Opening

By Pat J. Bailey

ROBERT MONDAVI INSTITUTE FOR WINE AND FOOD SCIENCE OPENS

Photo Gallery

Fittingly surrounded by olive trees and an edible garden, hundreds of dignitaries, visitors and members of the university community gathered today to celebrate the grand opening of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at the University of California, Davis.

The new 129,600-square-foot complex of three academic buildings, visible from Interstate 80, houses UC Davis' departments of Viticulture and Enology, and Food Science and Technology, as well as the administrative offices for the institute.

"How truly great it is that we are able to celebrate the Robert Mondavi Institute's grand opening as part of UC Davis' centennial celebration," said UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "It is especially fitting because, with the grand opening of this institute, we are also celebrating two of UC Davis' historical strengths."

Vanderhoef noted that the University of California played an important role in founding and fueling California's $45 billion a year wine industry and has made significant contributions to the production and processing of California's foods.

The grand opening ceremony was held in the institute's expansive courtyard, landscaped as a demonstration garden that includes olive and citrus trees, vegetables, and herbs. The courtyard faces west toward a 12-acre teaching vineyard, which will be planted with grapevines this winter.

Special guest for the grand opening was Margrit Biever Mondavi, wife of the late Robert Mondavi. In 2001, Mondavi, a legendary California winemaker, gave $25 million to establish the wine and food science institute within UC Davis' College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The Mondavis also gave an additional $10 million to help launch the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in 2002 and is now a regional performing arts landmark.

Robert Mondavi died May 16 at his Napa Valley home at the age of 94.

"It was really Margrit and Bob who, going back 20 years, first talked about the continuum of wine, food and the arts and the importance of understanding the connections in that continuum," Vanderhoef said.

"We're sad that Bob Mondavi isn't here with us today to share in this moment, but honored by the presence of Margrit and other members of the Mondavi family whose longstanding friendship is treasured by UC Davis."

Also participating in the grand opening were Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa Valley; University of California Interim Provost Robert Grey; Neal Van Alfen, dean of UC Davis' College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; and Robert Mondavi's children, Tim Mondavi and Marcia Mondavi Borger. Emcee for the event was Clare M. Hasler, executive director of the Robert Mondavi Institute.

During the ceremony, Rep. Thompson, whose 1st Congressional District encompasses both UC Davis and the Napa Valley, presented Margrit Mondavi with a congressional resolution honoring Robert Mondavi.

Ceremonial groundbreaking

After ribbons were cut, signifying the official grand opening of the new complex, the audience turned its attention to the arrival of the Budweiser Clydesdales. The 8-horse hitch, pulling a beer wagon, signaled the beginning of a groundbreaking ceremony for the institute's second building phase, which will include design and construction of two connected, one-story buildings totaling 32,000 square feet.

One of the buildings will house the small-scale Teaching and Research Winery, and the other will be home to the Anheuser-Busch Brewing and Food Science Laboratory, which will include a brewery and pilot food-processing plant. Construction of the buildings, estimated to cost $16.5 million, is slated to begin in June 2009 with completion anticipated in July 2010.

"We are deeply grateful to the more than 150 individuals, alumni, corporate friends and foundations who have contributed to the $16.5 million goal for this phase of construction," said Dean Neal Van Alfen. He noted that the buildings have been designed to meet or exceed environmental specifications necessary for the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED-NC Gold Certification.

Ceremonially turning the soil with a giant-sized fork, corkscrew and bottle opener during the groundbreaking were Doug Muhleman, group vice president of brewing operations and technology at Anheuser-Busch Inc. and a UC Davis alumnus; Charles Bamforth, chair of the Department of Food Science and Technology and the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences; Tim Mondavi and Marcia Mondavi Borger; Andrew Waterhouse, chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology and the John E. Kinsella Endowed Chair in Food, Nutrition and Health; Adrianna Gozza, a third-generation winemaker and graduate student in the Department of Viticulture and Enology; and Natasha Stephens, an undergraduate student in the Department of Food Science and Technology.

Following the groundbreaking, all of the ceremony attendees were invited to tour the new facilities; participate in beer, wine and olive oil tastings; and attend presentations by UC Davis alumnus, chef and television personality Martin Yan, as well as by UC Davis faculty members Ann Noble and Charles Bamforth.

Building background

Design and construction of the two phases of the Robert Mondavi Institute complex are estimated to cost a total of $93.5 million. This includes $73 million for the first phase, $16.5 million for design and construction of the second phase, and $4 million for utilities for the second phase.

Funding for both phases includes $36.2 million from the state of California; $20.8 million from UC Davis; and $36.5 million in philanthropic support from private companies, foundations and individuals. Among the top private donors were Robert Mondavi and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation.

The design and construction team for phase one of the institute included the architectural firm of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership(ZGF) of Portland. Collaborating on the landscape design for the new complex were design partner Robert Frasca, Laurie Olin of the Olin Partnership and Walker/Macy Associates of Portland. The construction team included Flintco Construction Services of Tulsa, Okla.; Frank Riley; Brian Stevenson; and Craig Smart.

Selected to design, build and landscape the phase-two buildings are BNB NorCal of San Mateo and Flad Architects of San Francisco; along with Gayner Engineers, Therma, Red Top Electric, KPW Structural Engineers, Creegan+D'Angelo Civil Engineers and HLA Landscape Architects.

About UC Davis

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from five professional schools: Education, Law, Management, Medicine, and Veterinary Medicine. The UC Davis School of Medicine and UC Davis Medical Center are located on the Sacramento campus near downtown.  More information, including a short Flash video by Sylvia Wright, is at: http://www.ucdavis.edu/spotlight/1008/rmi_opening.html.

RMI Board of Executives Established

By Clare M. Hasler

It gives me extraordinary pleasure to announce that a select group of innovators, pioneers, and entrepreneurs have agreed to serve on the Board of Executives for the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. The Board of Executives will provide strategic advice and leadership from diverse perspectives in the wine, brewing and food industries and help build support for the Institute and its programs.

• Robert Boynton, Sr., vice president, Marketing and Sales, Leprino Foods Company
• Darrell Corti, owner, Corti Brothers Grocers, Sacramento
• Greg Drescher, senior director, Strategic Initiatives, Culinary Institute of America
• Jose Fernandez, chief executive officer, Constellation Wines North America
• Al Giuliani, retired president and chief operating officer, Ready Pac Produce
• Clay Gregory, president, Jackson Family Wines
• Margaret Lawson, vice president, Science and Innovation, D.D. Williamson
• Harold McGee, author, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
• Glenn Nedwin, executive vice president, Technical Enzymes, Genencor
• Warren Quilliam, vice president, Brewing and Quality Assurance, Molson-Coors Brewing Company
• John Serbia, vice president, Brewing, Anheuser-Busch
• Jean-Michel Valette, chairman of the board, Peet’s Coffee & Tea 

Our Story Reviews and Celebrates the History of the Robert Mondavi Institute

By Clare M. Hasler

October 10, 2008, marked the grand opening of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at the University of California, Davis. The opening of this state-of-the-art teaching, research and outreach facility is the realization of a dream articulated in a talk that Robert Mondavi gave over 20 years ago while he was a Regents’ Lecturer on the UC Davis Campus (see accompanying story by Axel Borg, below). This year also marks the centennial year of the UC Davis campus and we thus felt it fitting and proper to review and celebrate the accomplishments of the two distinguished academic departments that are now joined in the Robert Mondavi Institute.

Our Story is a historical timeline of the Department of Viticulture and Enology and the Department of Food Science and Technology. It begins in 1880 when the California legislature directed the University of California (in Berkeley) to conduct research and teach classes in viticulture and enology, leading to the creation of the Division of Viticulture. The story ends, 128 years later, with the relocation of both departments into the new academic complex located at the intersection of Old Davis Road and Hilgard Lane (at UC Davis). Sprinkled through the years is a tradition of close collaboration as well as shared faculty.

Of particular note are the early and continuing examples of academia in service to the state of California, the U.S., and the world. This long and productive history is an illustrious example of the land-grant tradition in practice. Robert Mondavi clearly saw this and envisioned a facility that would enable the faculty of these two internationally recognized departments to continue and enhance a century of contributions on behalf of California’s people and industry.

Our Story would not have been possible without the contribution of several individuals, most notably, Axel Borg (wine and food bibliographer, Shields Library) and Eric Rohr (graphic designer, CA&ES Dean’s Office), who, with a very pregnant wife, managed to get this beautiful document to press in time for release at the grand opening! Other contributors included: Ann Filmer (director of communications, CA&ES Dean’s Office), Patricia Glass (coordinator, RMI), Kay Bogart (Department of Viticulture and Enology), Carol Cooper (Department of Food Science and Technology), Andrew Walker (professor, Department of Viticulture and Enology) and Carl Winter (professor, Department of Food Science and Technology). Please see the PDF version on the RMI home page.

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RMI Reproduces Historical Book on Wine for Grand Opening

By Clare M. Hasler

The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science offers this 125th anniversary edition of E. H. Rixford’s The Wine Press and the Cellar with pride and pleasure. We hope that its practical advice and simple charm will inspire a new generation of wine lovers, and might even be helpful to some modern winemakers.

I am particularly pleased and honored that this book will debut in 2008—UC Davis’s centennial year—during the opening celebrations for the Robert Mondavi Institute. The Rixford book inaugurates a series of books that will be produced on an occasional basis, made possible by the generous philanthropic support of an anonymous donor.

The goal of this edition has been to reproduce The Wine Press and the Cellar with beauty and exactitude, and its form is the result of a series of careful decisions. For example, we found original bindings of Mr. Rixford’s book in a variety of colors, from which we have chosen green. The cover artwork is taken from a particularly fine copy at UC Davis—the only one with the handsome endpapers we have reproduced here. The type has been reset to match the original as closely as possible. Page, paragraph, and line breaks—as well as typographical errors—have been preserved.

The illustrations presented a real challenge. Our first idea was to reproduce them directly from the 1883 edition of The Wine Press and the Cellar, in all their rough charm. But during our research we discovered that nearly all of the illustrations came from books in Mr. Rixford’s personal library: Boireau’s Culture de la Vigne, Maigne’s Nouveau Manuel Complet, and Vizetelly’s Facts About Sherry. Today, these very books—a gift to UC Davis from Mr. Rixford’s son, Halsey (1888–1964), are at UC Davis’s Peter J. Shields Library. This circumstance presented us with the compelling possibility of reproducing illustrations from the originals! We could not resist taking advantage of this serendipitous opportunity.

As a result, we were able to reproduce forty-nine of Mr. Rixford’s fifty-seven “figures” directly from his own source material, with two exceptions. The illustrations from his Boireau had been meticulously removed and pasted back into place. But his source for figure 32 appears to have been damaged when Mr. Rixford had his copy of Boireau rebound. Figure 39 (from Vizetelly) had been removed but never replaced. For these, we have used the best copies of Boireau and Vizetelly available. The only illustration requiring any modification was figure 20, from Mr. Rixford’s copy of Boireau. Here, we have deleted the French branding that appears on the Boireau original, just as Mr. Rixford did 125 years ago. The sources for the rest of Mr. Rixford’s illustrations (including figures 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 44, 52, and 53) remain a mystery. We have reproduced these from the 1883 edition of The Wine Press and the Cellar.

We are deeply grateful to Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards for his insightful foreword. We are indebted to the indefatigable Daryl Morrison, John Skarstad, and Axel E. Borg at the Peter J. Shields Library, UC Davis, for their expertise. We also wish to acknowledge Susan Snyder, The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley; David Burkhart; Charles L. Sullivan; Bob Mullen, Woodside Vineyards; Robert Zerkowitz, the Wine Institute, San Francisco; the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library; and the California History Room, California State Library, Sacramento.

This special edition was produced by Will Suckow, Will Suckow Illustration and Design, Sacramento, and is available for purchase for $150. Please contact Patricia Glass at pglass@ucdavis.edu.

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Regents’ Lectures

By Axel Borg

Just this last month, on October 10, 2008, the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science opened its doors with a grand ribbon-cutting ceremony. Twenty years earlier, Robert Mondavi was accorded the honor of being appointed a Regents’ Lecturer by the University of California. As Regents’ Lecturer he gave a series of lectures on the Davis campus. In those lectures, Mr. Mondavi outlined his view and his hope for the wine industry. Unfortunately, his lectures were not recorded and with the passing of time were being lost to our memory. However, the original manuscripts were preserved in Special Collections, Shields Library, and were used to reprint his lectures, thus making Robert Mondavi’s vision accessible to many generations yet to come.

In his lectures, Robert Mondavi called for the University of California, Davis, to advance beyond its innovative combination of viticulture and enology into a distinct department by integrating food science along with viticulture and enology into a unified body. Mr. Mondavi’s vision, articulated twenty years ago, is realized in the new Robert Mondavi Institute. In commemoration of the opening of the Robert Mondavi Institute, the university and the institute have produced a beautiful booklet which makes his lectures available for the first time since Robert Mondavi delivered them.

To receive a copy, send us a pre-addressed 6x9-inch envelope with .84-cents postage on it.

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Three Distinguished Speakers Lecture in the New Sensory Theater at the Grand Opening

Attendees at the grand opening of the RMI had the opportunity to attend lectures by two distinguished UC Davis faculty and a very special guest in the brand new state-of-the-art Sensory Building Lecture Theater after the formal ceremony. Charlie Bamforth, chair of the Department of Food Science and Technology and holder of the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Chair in Malting and Brewing Sciences, continued his quest to convince the world that beer is by far the superior alcoholic beverage in his “Bountiful Beer” presentation. Ann Noble, professor emeritus, Department of Viticulture and Enology, lectured on “The Wonders of Wine Flavors.”

Celebrity chef Martin Yan, a UC Davis graduate and an RMI honorary board member, returned to campus to lecture to a standing-room-only crowd in his unique and entertaining way.

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Beer is Best

by Charles Bamforth

Charlie Bamforth justified his claim that beer is the greatest of all alcoholic beverages. He explained to the audience how its discovery was the root of the first static civilizations in the Fertile Crescent. And now, some 8,000 years later, brewing is the most sophisticated of fermentation processes, with the detailed science pursued over the last century being applied to achieve consistent product excellence.

Gently teasing the wine folks, Charlie said that there is far greater selection in the world of beer: "everything from clear to black, from alcohol-free to 26 percent alcohol, and a rich diversity of flavors." Using a range of beers he explained how malt, hop, water and yeast selection have a profound impact on beer taste — and he also illustrated the role of other components in some beers, such as fruit. Charlie also explained how raw materials and processes affect all aspects of product quality, including the foam, color and clarity. "Pour the beer in a glass," he said, "because drinking it straight out of the bottle is vulgar."

Finally, Charlie emphasized that moderate consumption of beer is good for you, and that beer has all the same benefits as wine in countering the blocking of arteries, but beer has more nutritional value, containing for example B vitamins and silicon. Charlie drew attention to his recent book Grape vs. Grain. (http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521849371)

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Wonderful World of Wine Flavors

by Ann Noble

“Wine is constant proof that God loves us,” said Ben Franklin (but he did NOT say that beer is proof of this!)

Celebration of life requires one to be open to the Now. Wine is a case in point. Savoring the experience of wine begins with appreciation of the ruby or topaz colors, but this is only a prelude to enjoyment and observation of the aroma. Intellectually we know that wine flavor is driven by many factors: environmental, biological, genetic, biochemical, microbiological, and chemical. However, each wine, which can have 1,500 volatile compounds in the aroma, can only be perceived by focusing on the aroma and “listening” to your nose. Different notes appear and disappear. You can only perceive what you listen to.

Describing wine aromas requires words which we typically have only for colors, but not for aromas. Once an aroma lexicon is acquired, these aromas are recognized as fruity, herbal, floral, spicy, woody, caramel or toasty.

 Enjoyment of the flavors of wine is only the beginning: moderate consumption of wine has the healthful benefits from the antioxidants . . . and so forth.

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Martin Yan’s Standing-Room-Only Presentation

by Charlie Shoemaker

The fire marshals had to block the doors as the lecture room was in an over-filled state with Martin Yan returning to speak for the grand opening of the academic buildings of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. In the audience were friends, students, professors and other returning alumni. Martin is an alumnus of the UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology.

Among the food science alumni were Eddy Lee and Elizabeth Lee Mok and their families from Hong Kong. Eddy is president and Elizabeth is the technical director of the world famous Lee Kum Kee Company. The family in attendance included their father, Mr. M. T. Lee, who is group chairman of Lee Kum Kee. The company was founded by Eddy’s and Elizabeth’s great grandfather, who invented their famous oyster sauce. Martin paid special tribute to the Lee family by demonstrating various uses of several of the Lee Kum Kee sauces in Chinese American dishes.

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Community Women’s Luncheon

By Louise F. Uota

Clare M. Hasler, executive director of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science was the featured speaker at the Community Women’s Luncheon on Tuesday, October 14, hosted by Rosalie Vanderhoef, Associate of the Chancellor. About 320 women—the largest crowd to date for this semi-annual event—gathered to hear Hasler’s presentation, “The Top 14 Super Foods and Beverages for Women.” An internationally recognized expert on the topic of functional foods and nutraceuticals (food or parts of food that provide medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease), Hasler briefly discussed the health benefits of salmon, spinach, berries, tea, tomatoes, dark chocolate, almonds, whole grains (including oatmeal), red wine, broccoli, flaxseed, yogurt (and other cultured dairy products), sweet potatoes, and olive oil.

A specially prepared lunch by Chef Andy Burtis creatively incorporated all 14 super foods into the menu, beginning with an entree of okonomiyaki soufflé with seared Alaskan salmon; sweet potato matchsticks; heirloom tomato and local organic spinach; and kefir yogurt and wine sauces. A vegetarian entrée option substituted shiitake mushrooms for the salmon. The entrees were served with rustic wheat bread containing oats and flaxseed, accompanied by UC Davis Gunrock olive oil. Dessert consisted of chocolate, walnut, and raspberry mousse tart with fresh raspberries. The beverage was a cold, sun-brewed green and black tea blend.

As a UC Davis Community Relations effort, the luncheon brings together women business and community leaders, elected officials, and alumni, donors and volunteer leaders of the university from throughout the region to hear from one of UC Davis’ female faculty members or administrators.  The luncheon not only highlights the contributions the speaker has made in teaching or research, but helps to raise the interest in and awareness of the university.  The Community Women’s Luncheon was part of a week-long celebration of the UC Davis Centennial and was held in the Robert Mondavi Institute Courtyard.

The fall luncheon continued a week-long celebration of the UC Davis Centennial and was held in the Institute Courtyard.

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A Thank You Note from the Good Life Garden

by Libby Clow

In November we take time to give thanks; in the Good Life Garden this is no exception. The one-acre edible garden, located within the Robert Mondavi Institute landscape, officially opened on October 10, 2008, due to the dedicated work of UC Davis employees with myriad talents, the Good Life Garden Advisory Board, and generous sponsors. The event is nicely detailed in Kate Washington’s Sacramento News Review article (http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=871357).

Now, nearly one month after its opening, the Good Life Garden is brimming with life under the autumn sun — a combination of Mother Nature’s cooperation and the efforts of talented and creative human hands and minds. So in this month of Thanksgiving, we extend sincere gratitude for the hard work of the following people:

Facilities Management: Buildings and Grounds
Christina DeMartini Reyes, garden designer
Cary Avery, landscape superintendent
Jose Aguayo, Jessie Flores, Sal Genito, Theresa Goeman, Matt Hays, Katie Hetrick, Dave Klippert, Tyson Mantor, Elias Mbvukuta, Libby McGill, Ed Nordstrom, Felipe Olivares, Greg Patzkowski, Gary Perez, Katie Stapko, Nicole Sturzenberger, and Serafin Velasco

Walker Macy and Associates
Charlie Brucker

Seeds of Change
Howard Shapiro, Nancy Shapiro, Terry Allan, Richard Bernard, and Marc Cool

Good Life Garden Advisory Board

Clare Hasler, Liz Applegate, Georgeanne Brennan, Ann Evans, Pam Geisel, Randii MacNear, Alyson Mitchell, Howard Shapiro, and Nancy Shapiro

As the garden continues to thrive, stay tuned for opportunities to sponsor Good Life Garden beds. Celebrate the holidays by gifting an annual garden sponsorship to help keep this edible landscape project bountiful and beautiful.

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Centennial Olive Oil Specially Made for the Grand Opening

by Dan Flynn

In the spirit of the centennial, the UC Davis Olive Center released its Centennial Blend to commemorate the university’s long relationship with California olive growers and processors. The center celebrated the grand opening of the Robert Mondavi Institute on October 10 and the Centennial Blend release on October 8 by offering tastings to attendees under recently transplanted heritage olive trees.

The special oil is a blend of UC Davis Olive Oil and contributions from top California olive oil producers, including Saltonstall Estate, California Olive Ranch, Corto Olive, Dry Creek Olive Company, McEvoy Ranch, the Olive Press, and Pasolivo.

The grand opening also featured a variety of local olive oils and table olives, with producers on hand to offer tastings and answer questions.

Despite the cold weather, the day proved to be the perfect opportunity for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends to experience some of the Olive Center’s 2008 achievements. The UC Davis Centennial Blend is out just in time for the holidays and makes the perfect gift for anyone with a connection to the university.

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Oktoberfest Beer: A Delicious Treat for Grand Opening Attendees

By Melissa Haworth

The UC Davis Centennial Celebration Oktoberfest beer was a delicious treat for attendees of the October 10 celebrations and will be enjoyed at many subsequent UC Davis campus and alumni events. Its creation is yet another example of the enduring partnership between Anheuser-Busch, Inc .and UC Davis’ Brewing Science Program.

The celebratory brew was the brainchild of alumnus Doug Muhleman (group vice president, Brewing Operations and Technology, Anheuser-Busch) made possible by UC Davis students and brewmasters at Anheuser-Busch’s Fairfield brewery. Charlie Bamforth’s students —Jonathan Goldberg, Troy Casey, Michael DiPietro, Ellen Beiting and Langdon Ngo — developed the recipe and tested it at the UC Davis Pilot Brewery. From there, they worked with Anheuser-Busch brewmasters Scott Ungerman, Stephen Russell and Michael Poley in Fairfield to scale up the recipe and produce nearly 1,000 cases to share. Even the custom label was designed by UC Davis student Michael Wang.

This special project provided invaluable “real world” experience for the students and an outstanding centennial beer! Thank you to all the UC Davis students, alumni, staff and faculty who made this a reality.

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Centennial Reserve

By Kathy Barrientes

UC Davis V&E Alumni Winemaker and Silverado Vineyards create Centennial Reserve!

2008 marks the 100th year of UC Davis and the release of the UC Davis 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Centennial Reserve.  Jon Emmerich, 1987 alumnus of the Department of Viticulture & Enology (V&E) and head winemaker at Silverado Vineyards offered to crush, blend, barrel-age and bottle the special blend/wine for the Department’s use. UC Davis and the department of V & E are not able to make and bottle wine for consumption, so Jon decided to come up with a plan.  With the campus centennial only two years away, Andy Waterhouse, Chair of the department and the Centennial Committee began working out a strategy.  The teamwork was successful and the inaugural blend of Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon Centennial Reserve was born.  The rest as you say is history! This vintage will be served at campus events throughout the Centennial year and used as gifts to the Department of V&E and campus special friends.

UC Davis is one of the few universities in the world that owns a vineyard in a premium winegrowing region. Its 40 acres in heart of Napa Valley was founded with a visionary gift from Napa winegrowers and allows a place for V&E’s faculty and students to conduct research trials and hold educational events.  The grapes not used for research are harvested and sold to professional wineries and home winemakers to offset the cost of running the station.

Many a toast will be shared over these special bottles only available at campus and department events.  Here’s a toast to Jon Emmerich for sharing his craft of fine winemaking and Ron & Diane Miller, proprietors of Silverado Vineyards for their partnership and support as we celebrate the past 100 years, and look to the next 100 years!

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Upcoming Events

• Olive Oil Seminar, December 6: http://rmi.ucdavis.edu/docs/olive%20oil%20class.pdf
• Women, Wine, and Chocolate, February 12: Stay tuned for more details!
• Tasting Histories, February 27-March 1: http://foodandbody.ucdavis.edu/tastinghistories/
• Wine Executive Program, March 8-12: http://www.wineexecutiveprogram.com/

Contributers to "RMI E-newsletter"

• Clare M. Hasler, Executive Director, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, (530) 754-6349, cmhasler@ucdavis.edu
• Pat Bailey, ag/vet sciences public information rep., UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu
  
• Axel Borg, Librarian, Biological Ag, Peter J. Shields Library, (530) 752-6176 aeborg@ucdavis.edu
  
• Charles Bamforth, Chairperson, Food Science and Technology, (530) 752-9476, cwbamforth@ucdavis.edu
  
• Ann Noble, Professor Emeritus, Viticulture and Enology, (530) 752-0382, acnoble@ucdavis.edu
  
• Charles Shoemaker, Professor, Food Science and Technology, (530) 752-7347, cfshoemaker@ucdavis.edu
  
• Louise F. Uota, Director, Ceremonies and Special Events, (530) 754-2007, lfuota@ucdavis.edu
  
• Libby Clow, Facilities and Maintenance Grounds Services, ejclow@ucdavis.edu
  
• Dan Flynn, Executive Director, UCD Olive Center, RMI, (530) 754-9301, jdflynn@ucdavis.edu
  
• Melissa Haworth, Director of Major Gifts, CA&ES Dean's Office, (530) 754-8562, mdhaworth@ucdavis.edu
• Patricia Glass, administration/event coordinator, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, (530) 754-6349, pglass@ucdavis.edu
  
• Ann Filmer, Director of Communications, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, (530) 754-6788, afilmer@ucdavis.edu