Professor emerita Carole Meredith, Department of Viticulture and Enology, is receiving the California State Fair’s Wine Lifetime Achievement Award.

Carole Meredith, professor emerita in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, is receiving the California State Fair’s Wine Lifetime Achievement Award.

She was among early researchers to develop DNA markers for grapes, then used them to identify the genetic and geographic origins of numerous varieties.

A native of Wales who spent her formative years in Canada and California, Meredith joined UC Davis as an assistant professor in 1980 where she oversaw research in grapevine genetics, including the creation of a genome map now used internationally to identify genes that control disease resistance and fruit quality in wine grapes.

Her use of DNA profiling has been instrumental in solving several longstanding vineyard mysteries, such as tracing the origin of the zinfandel grape to Croatia.

Earlier honors include the Chevaliere de l’Ordre du Merite Agricole, awarded by the French government in 2000, and her induction in 2009 to the California Vintners Hall of Fame in Napa Valley. Today, she and her husband, Stephen Lagier, tend vines in the Mount Veeder district of Napa Valley, releasing their wines under the label Lagier Meredith.

The award recipients were chosen by California State Fair’s Wine Advisory Task Force. For information about the California State Fair visit www.bigfun.org.

(This article is reprinted from the Mountain Democrat, July 10, 2013, http://www.mtdemocrat.com/prospecting/professor-earns-wine-award/)

View this on the college blog: http://ucdaviscaes.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/professor-emerita-carole-meredith-earns-wine-award/ 
 

Media contact:

• Carole Meredith, Dept. of Viticulture and Enology, UC Davis, cpmeredith@ucdavis.edu 
   

College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UC Davis, contact:

• Ann Filmer, Senior Director of Communications, (530) 754-6788, afilmer@ucdavis.edu