Becker, Helmut (1927–89), academic and exceptionally cosmopolitan viticulturist who was chief of the geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany from 1964 until his death. vine breeding dominated his work. He emphasized the need for deliberate cross-breeding for resistance to downy mildew and powdery mildew. To achieve this end he used not only resistant genes from american vines, as many other vine breeders had, but also those from Asian species of vitis, in particular V. amurensis. Under his leadership, the winemaking facilities of the institute were extended and became a model for small-scale winemaking in breeding stations around the world. The products of these micro-vinifications were filed like library books in the research institute’s deep, cool cellar, in bottles closed with the crown caps of which Becker was a great proponent. Here Professor Becker would regale visitors with tastings of fine, Riesling-like wine made from new varieties which were effectively hybrids because of their non-vinifera genes, and therefore officially outlawed. (Some have since been officially embraced; see disease-resistant varieties.)
