Gallo grape breeder will speak at Modesto Junior College

Peter Cousins, who breeds grapes for E.&J. Gallo Winery, will speak Friday night on the science behind the fruit.

Modesto Junior College will host the free event as part of the Modesto Area Partners in Science lecture series. It is for people 12 and older.

The talk, “Grapes in Our Lives: Cultural Connections Between Grapes and People,” will explore questions as basic as how we can have seedless grapes. Cousins will explain the connection between pinot noir, a red wine grape, and pinot blanc, a white, among other mysteries of the vine.

He leads the grapevine improvement program at Modesto-based Gallo, the world’s largest wine company. Before that, he was a grape rootstock breeder and geneticist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Geneva, N.Y.

Cousins grew up on his family’s vegetable farm east of Ceres and studied plant science at MJC. He received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Stanford University and earned a doctorate in viticulture and genetics at UC Davis.

The talk will be at 7:30 p.m. in Sierra Hall 132 on the West Campus, 2201 Blue Gum Ave. More information on the lecture series is at maps.events.mjc.edu.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Gallo grape breeder will speak at Modesto Junior College."