October at UC Davis ushers in "crush," that frenetic season of grape harvest and wine production.

For winemaker and cellar master Charles "Chik" Brenneman, October is the climax of a three-month period that ensures the campus wine grape harvest coincides with the start of school.

"Typically, fruit around here matures in mid-August, but we have to time it so the grapes are ready for the students to use," said Brenneman, who works in the Department of Viticulture and Enology. "The challenge is to make the fruit last on the vine until Oct. 1, when the students arrive."

Ninety-five percent of the grapes used by winemaking students comes from UC Davis vines on campus or at the Oakville Experimental Vineyard in Napa Valley. The rest are provided to campus researchers by private growers.

The 45 students enrolled in three winemaking lab classes collectively make six 500-gallon fermentations in the department's pilot winery, with each class producing one red- and one white-wine fermentation. The students are also responsible for smaller projects, testing certain physical properties that are key in the fermentation process, such as yeast types and oxygen exposure.

In a few of the students, Brenneman can already see the seeds of a successful winemaker.

"They have to have personality, an analytical mind and an artistic mind, all combined in various percentages," he said.

'Know your wines'

After an earlier career as a medical laboratory technician, Brenneman changed course and earned a fermentation science degree from UC Davis, graduating in 1999. He worked in the cellars or production labs of Amador Foothill, Terre Rouge and Woodbridge wineries for several years, and then returned to campus with a wealth of practical advice for budding winemakers.

"I've got all sorts of sayings for them," he said, smiling. "For example, I tell them 'Know your wines and taste them often, because you can't just make your wine by the numbers.' "

"Another is: 'If you have to ask if it's clean enough, it's probably not,' " he said, referring to the winery equipment.

In addition to overseeing the winemaking classes, Brenneman also is charged with making 40-45 "library" wines that can be used in the sensory evaluation course, where students learn important standards in wine flavor and aroma. Some of these wines are also used in the wine microbiology courses, as well, if things do not go exactly as planned.

He also manages the department's wine cellar, along with colleague Paul Green.The landmark cellar in the Wickson Hall basement currently houses the equivalent of 25,000 bottles of wine, stored in both bottles and barrels. Most of the wines were made as research projects, providing a liquid archive of the department's 75-year history on the Davis campus.

Each bottle is a gem in its own right but, to Brenneman, there are two real treasures tucked away in the rows and rows of shelved wines.

He stumbled across the first of these treasures shortly after he arrived on the job last year. While perusing the cellar's holdings, he came across two unlabeled barrels encrusted with an inch of mold.

"We had no idea what wines were in there, so I decided to rack them," Brenneman said, referring to the process of siphoning the wine into bottles, leaving behind the lees or sediment in the barrel. What he discovered were two batches of tawny port wines dating back to 1958 and 1967.

"Look, they're still crystal clear," said Brenneman, rotating one of the bottles in the light.

'This is history'

The other treasure is a cache of 1980 cabernets donated by 24 different vintners for UC Davis' 75th anniversary. Some of those wines were used in a fundraising tasting to benefit the department's graduate students, but much of the quarter-century-old cabernets have been saved for the campus's centennial celebration next year.

Then, of course, the wine cellar has its quirkier contents, like the three donated empty wine bottles salvaged from a German warship that sank off the coast of Guam.

"This is history," said Brenneman, turning the labels on a stack of bottled wines dating back to the 1940s and '50s. "And it's not just the wine but who made them, like Amerine, Ough and Singleton, and other faculty from years past and present."

In just a few years, the contents of the cellar will be transported to a new winery building. Construction of the winery is slated to begin in fall 2008 as part of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. Brenneman has been part of the planning team for the new facility and is already making preparations for relocating the cellar's holdings.

At the height of crush, Brenneman wears many hats, from winemaker and winery manager to cellar curator and tour guide. For three hectic months, it is far more than a fulltime job.

"This is just what we do for three months of the year," he said, noting that he is fortunate to have a wife who understands the long hours and busy pace that, for a season, define a winemaker's life.

"She says she's okay with it as long a I give her a glass of wine every day for the rest of our lives," said Brenneman, who also is a home winemaker.

What's the best part of your job? I really like working with the students. I see myself 10 years ago. They ask a lot of questions, are enthusiastic and are so willing to absorb. I tell them that they're going to learn something new every day.

What's the worst part of your job? Monday mornings. No, actually, I've always been in the situation that if there was a worst part to my job, I'd go find another.

What's your favorite wine? Champagne and sparkling wines hold a special place in my heart, as that's how I was introduced to wine in the first place.

What's the best music to drink wine to? I listen to jazz, but I was a deadhead for 20 years — until Jerry Garcia died.

Do you have a philosophy of winemaking — and life? Yes, taste and taste often ... responsibly, of course.