Richard ("Ric") Forman is an American winemaker,

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...

manager, and

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servi ...

, who has made contributions to the rise of

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

as one of the premier winemaking regions of the world.

Details

Forman is credited with introducing vintage-dated

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to t ...

, and (along with Dick Graff) barrel fermentation of white wines, to California. Forman was long-time winemaker of Sterling Vineyards. After leaving Sterling he helped found Newton Vineyard. He was also instrumental in the founding of

Duckhorn Vineyards The Duckhorn Portfolio Inc. is an American wine company producing varietal labelled and blended red, white, rosé, and sparkling wines from California and Washington State. The main winery, Duckhorn Vineyards, is outside St. Helena, California. ...

. Later, he befriended rancher David Abreu, with whom he co-founded both Abreu Vineyards Management, a vineyard management company, and a winery, Abreu Vineyards. Forman is considered an expert in non-

malolactic Malolactic conversion (also known as malolactic fermentation or MLF) is a process in winemaking in which tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation is most often p ...

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forman, Ric Living people Wine critics American winemakers Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area People from Napa County, California Year of birth missing (living people)