Our Bountiful Relationship with UC Davis
Submitted by Jeff Meier, Director of Winemaking, President and COO
As a winery that has always been dedicated to education and research, it’s perhaps not surprising that J. Lohr has a long, rich history with UC Davis, one of the world’s preeminent schools for viticulture and enology. I’m a proud alumnus of UC Davis, as are Red Winemaker Steve Peck, White Winemaker Karl Antink, as well as several other members of our J. Lohr team. In addition, in 2013, Jerry Lohr was honored with the UC Davis Cal Aggie Alumni Association award for his extensive support of the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology, including Jerry’s leadership in establishing the university’s LEED Platinum-certified teaching and research winery, which includes the “J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines Fermentation Hall,” and the “J. Lohr Wine Sensory Lab.”
On May 7th, I had the great pleasure of representing J. Lohr at the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology “Fermentor Unveiling.” The unveiling was held in the winery’s J. Lohr Fermentation Hall and was presided over by Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean Helene Dillard, who offered some wonderful opening remarks before Viticulture and Enology Department Chair Dr. David Block led the presentation and visionary professor Roger Boulton, the fermentor unveiling.
In attendance were principals of almost all the donating wineries, each of which had donated a fermentor at a cost of approximately $88,000. It was a fantastic group that included a who’s who of industry icons like Warren Winiarski, Jack Cakebread, Paul Hobbs, Dave Ramey, Janet Trefethen and Peter Mondavi, Jr. The widow of legendary winemaker Andre Tchelistcheff was also there, as were Jeffrey Stambor, winemaker for Diageo (which includes Beaulieu Vineyards, where Andre consulted for many years), and Rob Davis, the winemaker for Jordan. All in all, including faculty members and individuals on the Executive Leadership Board, there were about 50 people there, and as each fermentor was unveiled, the donating winery representative spoke briefly about their great experiences with UC Davis.
I shared a few words about how much Jerry enjoys helping out and giving back to not only his alma mater, South Dakota State, but also other universities that are contributing to the success of our industry, particularly UC Davis, with its fantastic teaching and research programs. On a personal note, I also thanked the university for providing me the tools to become what I am today.
The event lasted for about two hours, and was followed by a lovely dinner in the Robert Mondavi Institute Sensory Wing, with each of the members contributing some of their wines for the meal, including a spectacular 1970 Beaulieu Vineyards, George de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon!