Bioletti, Frederic T. (Frederic Theodore), 1865-1939

Frederic Theodore Bioletti was born in Liverpool, England in 1865. In 1878, he came to the United States and settled in Sonoma County, California. After graduating from Heald's Business School in San Francisco, he worked on Senator Stanford's Vina Ranch, where he was employed in the senator's commercial wine cellar. Bioletti studied at the University of California, Berkeley from 1889-1900; he earned his Bachelor's degree in 1894 and his Master's degree in 1898. During this time, he was also an assistant to noted soil scientist Professor E.W. Hilgard. While working with Hilgard, Bioletti studied the fermentation of wines under a variety of conditions. The results of his experiments aided California vintners in refining their wine production practices and improving the resulting wines. In 1901, Bioletti left the University of California for Elsenburg College in South Africa, where he taught viticulture, enology, and horticulture for the next three years. Bioletti returned to California in 1904 and rejoined the Department of Viticulture and Enology. With the exception of a brief hiatus from 1908-1910 and another in 1930, Bioletti worked in the department until his retirement in 1935. He was the University of California's first Professor of Viticulture as well as the first chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology. Bioletti's greatest passion was systematic botany. His last publication was on the classification of vinifera grapes grown in California. Bioletti's academic work fell along similar lines: he was active in introducing and breeding new grape varieties and founded the grape breeding program at the University of California Agricultural Experiment Station. During Prohibition, Bioletti worked on finding additional uses for wine grapes. He also worked extensively with olive products and pioneered the use of an alkaline brine for olive canning. Frederic Bioletti died in 1939.

Biography

Frederic Theodore Bioletti was born in Liverpool, England in 1865. In 1878, he came to the United States and settled in Sonoma County, California. After graduating from Heald's Business School in San Francisco, he worked on Senator Stanford's Vina Ranch, where he was employed in the senator's commercial wine cellar. Bioletti studied at the University of California, Berkeley from 1889-1900; he earned his Bachelor's degree in 1894 and his Master's degree in 1898. During this time, he was also an assistant to noted soil scientist Professor E.W. Hilgard. While working with Hilgard, Bioletti studied the fermentation of wines under a variety of conditions. The results of his experiments aided California vintners in refining their wine production practices and improving the resulting wines.

In 1901, Bioletti left the University of California for Elsenburg College in South Africa, where he taught viticulture, enology, and horticulture for the next three years. Bioletti returned to California in 1904 and rejoined the Department of Viticulture and Enology. With the exception of a brief hiatus from 1908-1910 and another in 1930, Bioletti worked in the department until his retirement in 1935. He was the University of California's first Professor of Viticulture as well as the first chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology.

Bioletti's greatest passion was systematic botany. His last publication was on the classification of vinifera grapes grown in California. Bioletti's academic work fell along similar lines: he was active in introducing and breeding new grape varieties and founded the grape breeding program at the University of California Agricultural Experiment Station. During Prohibition, Bioletti worked on finding additional uses for wine grapes. He also worked extensively with olive products and pioneered the use of an alkaline brine for olive canning.

Frederic Bioletti died in 1939.

Sources:

University of California, In Memoriam . 1939.