Professor of Enology & Sensory Analysis

Federico is a full professor of Enology and Wine Sensory Analysis with the WVIT département at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California. The focus of Fererico’s research lies in the broad areas of grape and wine chemistry and biochemistry and their sensory implications, with special emphasis on applied research. He has been involved in research projects focused on the impact of irrigation techniques, especially Regulated Deficit Irrigation. He is also interested in the chemical and sensory aspects arising from intrinsic variations of berry size in red wine cultivars, and their impact during winemaking. Current and ongoing research projects include studies on the extraction of phenolics of sensory relevance during the course of different maceration techniques in red wines (cold soak, extended maceration, saignée, cofermentation, stem and whole cluster additions), coupled with other regulating factors (grape maturity and composition, ethanol content, SO2 dosing), hyperoxidation, oxidation reduction potential, acid chemistry and biochemistry in wine, and their sensory impact as evaluated by formal sensory evaluation techniques. Federico is responsible for two research labs at Cal Poly that cover the broad aspects of both wine chemistry and wine sensory composition.