The end of this year is approaching quickly, and the holiday season is here. Over the next month, students will prepare for finals, and we will continue planning our 2024 events while reflecting on the year with gratitude.

It's olive harvest season, and I was fortunate to tour a couple of local olive mills and witness the olive harvest firsthand. You can also participate by joining the UC Davis Olive Center on Saturday, November 18, at the Olio Novello Festival to celebrate the new harvest and the freshest pressed olive oil. Visitors can taste their award-winning olive oils, learn about growing olive trees, and participate in an appreciation class. Please visit their website for registration and details.

Expanding and deepening our partnerships is one of my top priorities over the next year. To that end, I will soon present at the 6th Sakeology Symposium in Niigata, Japan, alongside Glen Fox, Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology. This year's theme is Global Expansion of Sakeology: Collaboration with Enology in the United States, and I look forward to an exchange of knowledge between our organizations.

Last week, we also focused on sake with our Savor event Brewing Change: Craft Sake in the United States. I encourage you to watch the event recording for those who could not attend. I was fascinated with the speaker's insights, and it was apparent that we could greatly expand on the topic.

I am sorry to share that we have postponed the Walt Klenz lecture with Karen MacNeil, previously scheduled for November 30, to early 2024. We'll share details as soon as we have a new date.

Take care, and I look forward to sharing more about upcoming events in our next newsletter.

Sincerely,

Ned Spang
Director, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science
Associate Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology

View the entire November 2023 newsletter.