Professor & Biochemist Department of Viticulture and Enology Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Ph.D., Plant Physiology, University of California at Davis

Research

Dr. Adams' research program focused on grape berry ripening. He concentrated his efforts in two principal areas: the biochemical changes that occur during ripening, and the development of tannins in skins and seeds of red wine varieties. The latter led naturally into research related to the level of tannins in wines, a topic Dr. Adams pursued with students whose primary interest was in winemaking. His work on tannin development during ripening led to the development of the Adams-Harbertson Phenolics Panel for the analysis of tannins and polymeric pigments in grapes and wines, which is currently available commercially. The other project in Dr. Adams' laboratory was directed at identifying genes involved in grape berry ripening. Dr. Adams taught VEN 3: Introduction to Winemaking, as well as VEN 210: Grape Berry Development and Composition.  He served as the Chair of the Scholarship Committee and served on the Teaching Committee in the Department of Viticulture and Enology. Dr. Adams received his Bachelor's in Biochemistry and both his M.S. and Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from the University of California, Davis. In 2006, he was selected as the Honorary Research Lecturer by the American Society of Enology and Viticulture. The honorary research lecturer is granted to an individual with a current national or international reputation in his or her field of research and actively involved in scientific research.  In 2016, Dr. Adams was the Merit Award recipient for American Society of Enology and Viticulture.