Cruess, William Vere (1886–1968), biochemist, teacher, and author, was the link between work in wine research and teaching of the pre-prohibition and post-Repeal eras in california and thus had a central role in the restoration of the California wine industry. Professor of Food Technology at the University of California at Berkeley, Cruess had researched fermentation before Prohibition. In the ‘dry years’ he studied such things as the production of grape syrup and other vine products. Immediately upon Repeal he undertook to re-establish viticultural and oenological research at the University of California and did so with remarkable speed and efficiency. His Principles and Practices of Wine Making (1934) was the first work for the guidance of commercial winemaking published after Repeal.
