A recent gift of $30,000 from Gary B. Heck, Richie C. Heck and Korbel Champagne Cellars of Guerneville to the University of California, Davis, has augmented the Adolf L. Heck Memorial Fund, established in 1984 in honor of the noted champagne maker. The fund provides the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology with additional support for research relating to champagne and to "methode champenoise," the traditional approach to fine champagne making. Adolf Heck founded Korbel, the nation's largest and oldest producer of methode champenoise champagne. The memorial fund was established at the time of Adolf Heck's death in 1984 by his son, Gary B. Heck, who now heads Korbel, and his widow, Richie C. Heck, with contributions from his family, friends and associates. "Sparkling wine is a strong and growing component of the California wine industry," said Linda F. Bisson, chair of the Department of Viticulture and Enology. "The Adolf Heck endowment will allow the department to greatly expand its research activities in this important area." Heck's career as a champagne maker spanned more than 50 years. His family's involvement in the industry began with his grandfather, who was a wine maker in Alsace-Lorraine in France, and continued with his father, who managed the family's winery in St. Louis, Mo. Heck was a graduate of Geisenheim Wine Institute, a champagne-making school in Germany. As owner and chair of the board of Korbel, he transformed the Russian River firm from a small company that turned out 7,000 cases of champagne per year in 1954 to a giant operation that, at the time of his death, produced more than 1,200,000 cases of champagne, brandy, and wine annually. His many career accomplishments include his development of the first automated riddling device, which turns the champagne bottles during aging in the cellars.