Departments

The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science houses the Departments of Viticulture and Enology (VEN), and Food Science and Technology (FST). The research labs and offices of VEN faculty, staff and students are located in the North building, and FST labs and offices are housed in the South building.

RMI North

Viticulture and Enology

Credited with “re-starting” the California wine industry after prohibition, the Department of Viticulture and Enology has been advancing the wine industry for over 130 years. The UC Davis program is unique in combining the sciences of viticulture (the cultivation or culture of grapes) and enology (a science that deals with wine and winemaking) in a single research and teaching unit. Current areas of research for the 15 faculty members include: viticulture, microbiology, chemistry, sensory and enology.

RMI South

Food Science and Technology

The Food Science program at UC Davis is the largest in the country and the only one with a Ph.D. program in California. There are 25 faculty including several Cooperative Extension Specialists with a broad range of expertise and research programs that encompass the entire food system. The California Processing Tomato Industry Pilot Plant is capable of handling a broad spectrum of food products and is used for teaching, research, outreach and contract work. The August A. Busch III Brewing and Food Science Laboratory houses the brewery with rooms for dry storage, milling, records, and controlled-temperature storage. The brewery is an authentic, reduced-scale facility, similar in size to smaller commercial brewing operations is used for teaching, research, outreach, and industrial trials.