Texas continues to play an increasingly important role in supplying quality, flavorful wine to help meet growing demand across the U.S.
Committed to strengthening the Texas grape and wine industry through sustainable practices, Texas A&M AgriLife accelerates research, prepares the future workforce and educates both farmers and consumers alike on wine production and wine consumption.
“Sustainability starts at the vineyard with sustainable production and grape growing,” said Andreea Botezatu, Ph.D., assistant professor and AgriLife Extension enology specialist in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, Bryan-College Station.
Botezatu came to AgriLife Extension in 2017 and serves as the statewide enologist, providing expertise in the science of wine—including chemistry and microbiology of winemaking as well as arts and techniques for wine production.
Texas A&M AgriLife identified viticulture and enology as a key programmatic area after seeing explosive growth by both consumer and grower interests in wine grape production. Texas ranks among the top five wine-producing states in the U.S. with an annual economic value of $20.35 billion .
For non-Texas A&M students, as well as winery owners, winemakers and wine lab technicians, Botezatu has created a successful series of webinars available at youtube.com/@Enology_channel covering a wide range of enology-related topics.