Dr. Mansfield first worked in the wine industry as a college student in North Carolina. In an effort to expand her understanding of wine technology, she earned graduate degrees in Food Science at Virginia Tech and the University of Minnesota, studying wine flavor chemistry and sensory science. She spent a sabbatical leave at the l’Institut Universitaire de la Vigne et du Vin Jules Guyot at the University of Burgundy, where she learned a lot about wine corks and François Rude while confounding more than one Bourguignon with her sketchy French.
Now irredeemably entrenched in academia, Anna Katharine focuses her efforts on aiding regional wineries through enology extension and applied research on wine production processes. Her research interests include tannin extraction and retention in red wines, anthocyanin development, the effect of protein on sparkling wine foam, and defining regional identity in developing wine-growing areas. She really digs the science but still thinks teaching wine sensory evaluation is one of the best ways to spend her time.
