My condolences to Anita's family. I met Anita while studying at Davis from 2017 to 2019. I worked in her lab for my last year at Davis to help complete research on smoke taint.
She was a wealth of knowledge in wine and an amazing teacher. Besides her teaching, she was a high energy and great spirit. She always supported others and gave her best with everything she was working on.
She will be greatly missed. Thoughts to Anita's family.
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My condolences to Anita's family. I met Anita when I was working at UC Davis. I admired her very much for her passion, knowledge and dedication. I had to use her lab equipment for my research projects and she was always so generous and gracious.
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Anita was a good friend while we completed our PhDs at Adelaide University. Many hours chatting about life while nurturing all our mini ferments. It is wonderful she built such a wonderful career and contribution to wine. Condolences to her family.
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Dear Connie and family,
Sue and I were very much saddened to learn of Anita's passing. We have very fond memories of you both from your time in Adelaide. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your children.
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Hello, I just learned of this very sad news. I am still trying to wrap my head around this. I met Anita in 2018. She was the most committed and loving mother to her two children. I so enjoyed her humor and her let's-get-it-done-right and let's-get-it-done-now approach towards anything she did as a mom. She had the unique ability to own and laugh at what she called were her short-comings as a mom; in fact those were the strengths she brought to her family. I did not know much about her work. I am learning about it through this site. However, I do know she cared deeply about her work from the conversations we had. I also know she was very proud of her students she worked with. I will truly miss her smile and humor.
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I was shocked to hear about Anita's passing. We were colleagues at Stellenbosch University. In June 2022, I was in UC Davis for work and I contacted Anita. She took the time to show me around on campus and even gave me a bottle of wine. She was an amazing person. My love and prayers go out to her husband and kids.
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Since the day I met Anita in December 2012, I knew she was my hero. I was just a random guy from nowhere in South Brazil with a dream to do a PhD in viticulture and enology at UC Davis. Anita believed in me, put so much effort into helping my dream come true, taught me everything she knew, and pushed me to the limit with technique, passion, power, and restlessness. And she did it to all her students, she always gave her best. During my 10 years working close to her, on many occasions when I left the lab riding my bike late in the evening after a long day of work and nobody was in the building, the lights of her office were on, and she was there, working harder than everyone, bringing excellence, supporting her students, setting an example, and quietly becoming one of the best researchers in the World and building a legacy. I loved our round trips to Napa, talking for hours. I loved our endless long days of thousand fermentations and vinifications during harvest. What a lucky person I am to start as a student, become a friend, and late a family member. She put me and my family into her home. So many memories of endless open conversations, dreams, advices, amazing wines, and South African food. Sure I will carry Anita´s legacy in my heart forever. Her legacy of kindness, friendship, loyalty, and example of family will be carried and multiplied by those who had the luck to meet her at least once in life.
I wish God could give me one more chance to share a bottle of wine with Anita. Sure now she will be there in my thoughts every time I open a bottle. Love you Boss. You are my hero and my inspiration. You will be missed so much.
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I worked with Anita when she was a PhD student in Adelaide at the AWRI. She was very hard working and always cheerful and positive in the lab. She made a large contribution to understanding wine tannins and their influence on wine sensory properties. It was especially impressive that she completed her thesis while back in South Africa working full time, a testament to her determination and dedication.
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I just learned of Anita's passing, my sincerest condolences to her family, friends, students, and colleagues. I had the pleasure and honor of working with Anita in the UC Davis, Wine Executive Program over the last several years. She was intelligent, articulate, and commanded a room. Her bright smile will be missed tremendously.
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Sandhya Gurung
2017, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, Old Davis Road, Davis, CA, USA
I am deeply sadden to know of this shocking news. I came to know Anita during my internship in Robert Mondavi Institute back in 2017. Anita was such an amazing person and a great force to be reckoned with. She was not only a great teacher but was also very joyful and fun person to be with. Her bright laugh and warm personality will always be remembered. I feel grateful to have met her and was able to have her guidance. My deepest condolences to her family and friends.
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I am so shocked and saddened to hear this devastating news. I will always remember how Anita passionately and empathetically shared her wine and smoke research during the Glass and LMU fires of 2020. Her clear communication about science-based facts helped us winemakers navigate through those challenging days. It was obvious that Anita was a kind and caring individual. She made a wonderful impact on the wine industry. My heart aches for her family during this challenging time.
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My deepest condolences go out to Anita's family and to colleagues/friends at U.C. Davis. I met Anita as she came to the university and loved hearing her stories of South Africa. I have worked her for years on the ASEV board. She was such a luminary for the wine industry, with valuable research on red blotch and effects of wildfires. We celebrated with her at the Wine Star Awards in 2023. She was really smart and always shared her knowledge with warmth, smile, and quick wit. She is gone way too soon and will be greatly missed.
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Anita was so important to my wine career. She was always so positive, fun, engaging and generous with her time and knowledge. I can not begin to tell you how crucial she was to so many people in the wine industry. She was our colleague, friend and mentor. Her presence will be greatly missed. Her impact will continue to reverberate around the world of wine for generations. To her family, know that Anita’s memory will be carried on by so many. We are so grateful that we were able to have the time we had with her.
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I am heartbroken to have learned of Anita's passing. I only had the privilege of working in Anita's lab for 2 years but in that short time I had the honor to know her grace, humor, warmth, kindness and genius. I still remember vividly the day I met Anita in her office in the RMI building. I asked her if I could work in her lab and we began discussing her background and career in the wine industry. She told me her story and it inspired me so much. The way she got her PhD, moved to Australia for school and then ended up at UC Davis improving the wine industry every day with her research. She had one of the most impressive backgrounds but she wasn't at all pretentious. During this talk she gave me some words of wisdom and really inspired me to pursue a career in the wine industry, even though it can be very difficult at times. Since meeting Anita, whenever things got hard at work or in school, I thought about her and everything she had achieved and it sparked me to push through any challenges I was facing. I will always remember the summer in Davis where she invited me and the entire lab crew to her home for the brai barbecue with her family. I remember feeling so special being invited by Anita to spend this special moment with her colleagues and all of the grad students. I was just an intern! Anita welcomed everyone with open arms and made the V&E program feel like family.
I know I am just one in perhaps hundreds who have been impacted by Anita in their careers but also lives. I am thankful for the inspiration she sparked in me and I hope that the wine industry will carry on the message and legacy of this remarkable individual. My heart goes out to her family during this time, I send you my deepest condolences.
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Anita was a brilliant contributor to the latest (5th edition) of
The Oxford Companion to Wine. I contacted her out of the blue to ask for her help and she was very kind to respond. I wish I had known her personally. Professionally she was great to work with. My heartfelt condolences to her family.
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Sending our heartfelt condolences from the entire Agrology team. We are deeply saddened by Anita’s passing. We’re grateful for her many contributions to the wine industry and for serving as a trusted partner and advisor to our team. She was an incredibly warm and welcoming person and we will greatly miss her.
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My sincere condolences to Connie and family. It is difficult for me to imagine a more positive and vibrant person and academic. Anita was an immensely impactful person to me. From the first time that we met at the University of Adelaide on that drive to Nuriootpa when she was a PhD student, I was attracted to her warm, pragmatic, positive and open nature. As our lives progressed in our careers and our paths weaved in and out, she never lost her approachable, uplifting posture. I was so happy for California when they were able attract Anita to be the state's extension specialist, what a win for the state! Over the years and on the whole, Anita's contributions to the state and industry are immense. For me though, the wine industry is less colorful with the loss of Anita because of her kind and generous nature. Always quick to catch up on life and I always left our time together with a more positive outlook on the day. I will miss you Anita.
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I am shocked and saddened by the passing of Anita. My thoughts are with Connie, Willem and Mari. I met Anita and family when our sons were infants in the same daycare and then two years later, both Anita and I had daughters born days apart. Our children were friends through preschool where I became friendly with Anita and Connie. Coincidentally years later I would take over as the Biosafety admin assigned to Anita's research work. Anita was an amazingly accomplished woman and she will be greatly missed.
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