Quick Facts
Biography
Dr. Harold Olmo (July 31, 1909 – June 30, 2006) was a pioneering viticulturist 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.
Career
In 1955, Professor of Viticulture 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, Carnelian, Rubired and Royalty.