Leon D. Adams was a wine historian by title, but he was also a sharp wine judge and great wine writer. Many considered Adams to be the "Dean of American wine writers." Adams penned two seminal volumes on wine: Wines in America and The Commonsense Book of Wine. He firmly believed that Americans should drink wine with meals, and further believed that America would not become of age as a wine drinking nation until wine became as cheap as milk. Adams passed away in 1995, at the age of 95.
The Leon D. Adams Research Scholarship was established in 1985 by the members of the Society of Medical Friends of Wine to commemorate the leadership provided by Mr. Adams since 1938 in establishing programs of research on the nutritional and therapeutic value of wine. This endowment is to support an outstanding graduate student studying viticulture or enology at UCD.