The U.C. Davis Viticulture and Enology Department Culture Collection is a comprehensive repository of yeast and bacteria from around the world. Established in the 1930s, the collection originated from Professor Cruess’s yeast collection in the University of California’s Fruit Products Division. Over the decades, it has expanded through the contributions of other department members, including Maynard Amerine, John Castor, John Ingraham, Ralph Kunkee, Linda Bisson, David Mills, and Ben Montpetit.
It is the only collection of its kind in the United States and provides a vital resource for California’s fermentation industry. Unlike most collections, which focus on a wide variety of organisms, this collection emphasizes species crucial to the fermentation of wine, beer, and bread. It contains many isolates of key species, providing a depth of material beneficial for future studies.
For questions about the collection or specific strains, please contact the VEN Culture Collection at venculturecollection@ucdavis.edu. To obtain a strain, you must first agree to a material transfer agreement. The necessary form(s) can be downloaded here.
