Instructor Bios

John Buechsenstein has been a winemaker and wine educator for more than 30 years. He has extensive experience making wine in the Napa Valley and other wine growing regions of the California coast. Buechsenstein's passion for wine has taken him to the wine regions of Bordeaux, Champagne, Paris and Rhone Valley in France

Nichola Hall is currently the Technical Director of Fermentation and Enology for Scott Laboratories in Petaluma, Calif., and a co-winemaker for Mathew Bruno Wines in Rutherford, Calif. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in the wine industry, with previous positions at Bronco Wine Company and Vinquiry, Inc. Hall is an active member of the American Society of Enology and Viticulture, serving as president in 2016-2017. She earned her undergraduate degree in microbial biotechnology and a Ph.D. in yeast physiology and fermentation science from the University of Abertay Dundee. Read more

Pat Henderson is the owner/proprietor of About Wine Consulting and has a degree in fermentation science from UC Davis. Read more

Hildegarde Heymann is a professor in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis.

Patricia Howe holds a Ph.D. in wine chemistry and has been in the wine industry for over 35 years, consulting with and working for a wide range of facilities on three continents and across the United States. In addition to teaching at UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education, Howe has taught wine analysis and wine sanitation courses for various programs, including the Viticulture & Enology Science & Technology Alliance, Cornell University and Napa Valley College. Read more

John Katchmer is an enologist with 30 years of experience in the wine industry. As an enologist with Enartis, Katchmer’s responsibilities included overseeing the fining department, sensory evaluation, ensuring the enological veracity of work in the laboratory and wine problem solving. He has an M.S. in Food Science with an emphasis in enology from UC Davis and is a member of both the American and Australian Society of Enology and Viticulture. He teaches Wine Stability and Sensory Analysis in the Winemaking Certificate Program.

Kristin Lowe, Ph.D., is the owner of Vine Balance Consulting. She previously worked for a Napa-based consulting company, assisting growers with pest management, fertilization, irrigation, viticulture practices, and vineyard development plans.

Bryan Parker, Ph.D., has been the winemaker at Alderbrook Winery since 2003. He previously held winery positions at Harford Court Winery as a harvest intern, Beringer Vineyards as research enologist and Pine Ridge Winery as assistant winemaker. Parker has also served on several committees, including those for Unified Symposium and American Vineyard Foundation.

Jennifer Rohrs, Ph.D., teaches Viticulture for Winemakers in UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education’s online Winemaking Certificate Program. She is an independent viticulture consultant at Vine Ecology and holds a research associate appointment with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Napa. Rohrs is currently involved in projects investigating virus detection tools for wine growers. Since 2013, she has held positions in viticulture with wineries, vineyard management companies and consulting firms. Read more

Larry Schaffer, M.S., is the owner and winemaker at tercero wines in Santa Barbara County. He has a master's in viticulture and enology from UC Davis and spent nearly a decade making wine at Fess Parker Winery before branching out on his own. Now, with nearly 20 years in the wine industry, he teaches Wine Production in the Winemaking Certificate Program. Read more


If you have a question about the content of the courses or how to proceed through the program, please feel free to send an email or call (530) 757-8777.