The Grape Professors of UC Davis
Harold P. Olmo, University of California, Davis, 1909-2006
A Guggenheim Fellow and a Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Harold Paul Olmo was – according to Dr. Nick Dokoozlian, Vice President of Viticulture, Chemistry and Enology at E&J Gallo Winery – the “leading grapevine geneticist of his era” who assisted in creating the modern California wine industry. Born in San Francisco, Dr. Olmo started working as an assistant in viticulture and fruit products in 1931, eventually becoming a professor of viticulture in 1950. When he was hired, Dr. Olmo was given the task of breeding new and better grapes that would thrive in California’s climates. He also worked as a consultant for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization for over twenty years in grape growing regions around the world. His interests were the study and improvement of grape varieties for multiple purposes such as for table and wine use. Additionally, Dr. Olmo was an ampelographer or someone who is an expert on the identification and classification of grapevines.Over the course of his career Dr. Olmo developed around 30 grape varieties. The first wine grape created by Dr. Olmo was the ruby cabernet in 1948 – a cross of cabernet sauvignon and carignane that tasted like cabernet but was grown in regions too warm for cabernet sauvignon. Dr. Olmo’s search for grape varieties and species, including the world’s original wild grapevines, to use in his breeding program led him through mountains on the border of Iran and Afghanistan, which earned him the nickname the “Indiana Jones of Viticulture.” Additionally, as the “father of California chardonnay,” he is responsible for establishing and popularizing the clonal selection of chardonnay through the improvement of fruit quality and productivity with larger clusters and greater resistance to diseases. Prior to Dr. Olmo’s work in clonal selection, chardonnay was not a common or productive variety. Afterwards, chardonnay became the most widely planted wine grape in the United States.
Dr. Olmo’s greatest contribution to viticulture was his collecting efforts of many varieties from around the world for use in research in the grapevine clean stock program at UC Davis' Foundation Plant Materials Service. The Foundation (now the Foundation Plant Services) creates virus-free vines by identifying selections of varieties that are healthy and productive to sell to growers.
The Harold Paul Olmo Papers in Archives and Special Collections at UC Davis Library contain his work as a professor of viticulture, including correspondence, research files, slides on grape varieties, grape variety reports by county, and materials relating to his activities in symposiums, conferences, and advisory boards.