Harold Olmo
Encyclopedia
Dr. Harold Olmo was a pioneering viticulturalist
and professor at the University of California, Davis
where he created many new grape varieties known today as Olmo grapes
. In the 1950s, he helped to establish California's first quarantine
facility on the UC-Davis campus to permit California growers to import foreign vines. This led to an expansion of California's wine
industry as more vitis vinifera
was introduced to the area.
at the University of California
Harold Olmo was in Western Australia studying climatic limitations of viticulture in the Swan Valley. Olmo spent eight months in Western Australia at the invitation of the Western Australian Vine Fruits Research Trust. When he published his report in 1956, one of the recommendations put forward was that Mount Barker
and the Frankland
of the Great Southern area of Western Australia
showed great promise for making table wines in the light traditional European style.
Olmo also developed more than 30 new grape varieties, including Ruby Cabernet
, and
Carnelian.
Viticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
and professor at the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
where he created many new grape varieties known today as Olmo grapes
Olmo grapes
Olmo grapes are wine and table grape varieties produced by University of California, Davis viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo. Over the course of his nearly 50 year career, Dr. Olmo bred a wide variety of both grapes by means of both crossing varieties from the same species or creating hybrid grapes...
. In the 1950s, he helped to establish California's first quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
facility on the UC-Davis campus to permit California growers to import foreign vines. This led to an expansion of California's wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
industry as more vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran....
was introduced to the area.
Career
In 1955, Professor of ViticultureViticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
Harold Olmo was in Western Australia studying climatic limitations of viticulture in the Swan Valley. Olmo spent eight months in Western Australia at the invitation of the Western Australian Vine Fruits Research Trust. When he published his report in 1956, one of the recommendations put forward was that Mount Barker
Mount Barker, Western Australia
Mount Barker is a town on the Albany Highway and is the administrative centre of the Shire of Plantagenet in the Great Southern region of Western Australia...
and the Frankland
Frankland, Western Australia
Frankland is a small town in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. The town is in the shire of Cranbrook and is situated approximately 360 km from the State's capital, Perth, 42 km west of the Albany Highway, 83 km southwest of Kojonup, 19 km north of Rocky Gully and...
of the Great Southern area of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
showed great promise for making table wines in the light traditional European style.
Olmo also developed more than 30 new grape varieties, including Ruby Cabernet
Ruby Cabernet
Ruby Cabernet is a red Olmo grape variety that is a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan, it can produce wines with good colour and a pleasant cherry flavour, but is mostly blended into bulk wines....
, and
Carnelian.