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Wine Expert Marian Baldy Tastes National Success

Marian Baldy, College of Agriculture, received an Award of Merit from the American Wine Society (AWS) on Nov. 9 at the society's annual conference in Rochester, New York.

This award is given to wine professionals who have contributed to the advancement of wine appreciation for both professionals and amateurs. Baldy was recognized for her years of university teaching, lectures for professional and consumer organizations, and her publications, especially The University Wine Course: A Wine Appreciation Text and Self Tutorial, published by the Wine Appreciation Guild and used nationwide.

Others who have received AWS awards in the past include author and co-founder of the Wine Institute Leon Adams; California winemakers Andre Tchelistcheff, Robert Mondavi, Louis Martini, and Warren Winiarski; and academics Vincent Petrucci, professor of viticulture at California State University, Fresno, and Ann Noble, professor of enology at the University of California, Davis.

Much of Baldy's knowledge about wine was developed and tested by her experience as a winemaker and co-owner (with her husband Dick Baldy, also of the College of Agriculture) of Butte Creek Vineyards between 1972 and 1978.

Since 1972, Baldy has taught her Introduction to Wines course at CSU, Chico. The class has introduced more than 5,800 novices to the finer points of wine over the 30 years she has taught it. She wrote The University Wine Course in 1993 to accompany the course and produced a companion teacher's manual, published in 1994.

Baldy has received numerous awards, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Award for Excellence in College and University Teaching in 1994. She received an Honorary Life Membership in the American Wine Society in 1997. The University Wine Course was selected by the Society of Medical Friends of Wine as one of 25 books for inclusion in its list of Basic Shelf of Wine Books in 1996.

A popular speaker, Baldy has presented lectures to numerous professional groups on such topics as “The Perception of Bitterness and Astringency,” presented to the American Wine Society National Conference in Greenwich, Connecticut, in Nov. 1998, and “How Your Nose Knows and Your Tongue Tells,” a one-day seminar in sensory evaluation fundamentals for the Restaurant Management Wine Training Program at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida, in June 1998.

Baldy earned an A.B. in microbiology and a Ph.D. in genetics from UC Davis and studied enology there. She retired from CSU, Chico in 2000 but continues to teach the Introduction to Wine Class.

Kathleen McPartland