The German agronomist for vine breeding and viticultural site studies Dr Norbert Becker (1937-2012) spent his youth on a vineyard in Wiesbaden (Rheingau). After studying at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, he was an assistant at the university's Institute of Fruit Growing and a doctoral student in Geisenheim. After obtaining his doctorate in agronomy in 1968, he became a trainee at the Hessian Ministry of Agriculture. In 1970 he joined the State Viticultural Institute in Freiburg (Baden-Württemberg). His work focussed on viticultural site studies and vine breeding. He was head of the resistance and clone breeding department until 1999.
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The glossary is a monumental achievement and one of the most important contributions to wine knowledge. Of all the encyclopaedias I use on the subject of wine, it is by far the most important. That was the case ten years ago and it hasn't changed since.
Andreas Essl
Autor, Modena