Dr. Douglas O. Adams, Professor & Biochemist for the Department of Viticulture and Enology Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis

The ASEV Merit Award is presented annually to an individual who has significantly contributed in an outstanding manner to the progress and advancement of enology and viticulture to the industry and/or to the Society. This award acknowledges excellence in the fields of education, technology, research, management, public relations, or any discipline related to enology and viticulture.

The ASEV Board is pleased to honor Dr. Douglas Adams of the University of California in Davis as ASEV’s 2016 Merit Award recipient.

Best known for his research work on grape berry ripening, Dr. Adams has concentrated his efforts in two principal areas: (1) the biochemical changes that occur during ripening and (2) the development of tannins in skins and seeds of red wine varieties, which led to research related to tannin extraction during winemaking. His work on tannin development during ripening also led to the Adams-Harbertson Phenolics Panel, a protein precipitation assay designed to aid real-time winemaking decisions. He also has a project aimed at understanding factors that influence amino acid metabolism in grapevines and the amino acid composition of grapes at harvest. This work hopes to provide an analytical tool for viticulturists that will inform them about vine nitrogen status in vineyards managed for commercial wine production.

Dr. Adams is currently a viticulture professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He teaches Introduction to Winemaking and a graduate level class in grape berry development and composition. He was the recipient of the ASEV’s Honorary Research Lecturer Award in 2006.