2019 Oregon Wine Symposium | Managing Microbes from Crush to Bottle

Dr. Richard DeScenzo is the microbiology group leader for ETS Laboratories. ETS provides a range of microbiological analysis for problems occurring during the winemaking process, using a combination of classical microbiology methods and molecular biology techniques. In addition to developing improved diagnostics for the wine industry, Rich focuses on helping clients with a wide range of winemaking problems.
Rich received his master’s in plant pathology and Ph.D. in plant biology at the University of New Hampshire, and conducted his postdoctoral studies on disease resistance genes in barley with the USDA-ARS at Iowa State University. He spent 10 years conducting research on grape genomics, development of molecular diagnostics and fermentation monitoring in the wine industry prior to joining the ETS team.

James is as an associate professor and enology extension specialist in the Food Science and Technology Department at Oregon State University and a member of the Oregon Wine Research Institute. He received his Ph.D. from Washington State University in 2005 researching interactions between wine yeast and malolactic bacteria, after which he spent time in his native New Zealand working at the University of Auckland and Delegat’s Winery. His current research focuses on the impact of wine microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria, Brettanomyces, and non-Saccharomyces yeast on wine quality. James is the statewide enology extension specialist for Oregon providing outreach programs for the Oregon wine industry. This includes the development of industry workshops and seminars to aid in the transfer of relevant research results to commercial application as well as technical workshops focused on various enology topics. In addition, James teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in support of the enology and viticulture program at Oregon State University.

Even as a child in Texas, Anthony King dreamed of living as a science nerd among the hipsters and fir trees of the Northwest. He made it, finally, after a circuitous path leading from textbooks to UC Davis and seven years at Acacia Winery in Napa. Finally here, Lemelson Vineyards held his attention and focus for eight years before he started his own consulting company. Aside from consulting as general manager at the Carlton Winemakers Studio, Anthony’s specialty appears to be making wine for some of the smallest producers in the Willamette Valley, including his wildly successful but almost entirely unknown brand, Ratio Wines.