Dr. Simone D. Castellarin obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Udine in 2007. He has studied and worked as a scholar at the Hochschule Geisenheim University (Germany) and at UC Davis (USA). In 2009, he received the Rudolf Hermanns Prize (Geisenhem, Germany) for outstanding scientific achievements in horticulture and viticulture.

Simone investigates the ripening processes in grapes and the biological mechanisms that determine grape and wine quality. Moreover, he studies how grape quality is affected by environmental factors (temperature and water availability). He is developing viticultural strategies (irrigation, crop management, hormone applications, leaf removal) to improve ripening and the production of phenolics and aromatics in grapes.