Benoît DIVOL

Benoît Divol was born in Paris, France in 1977. He studied in Bordeaux where he developed a passion not only for wine but also for the microbes involved in the winemaking process.

Amongst other degrees, he obtained a PhD in 2004 with a thesis focusing on the microbiology of noble late harvest wines from the famous Sauternes region. The next year, he relocated to Stellenbosch, South Africa for a postdoctoral fellowship and has been working there ever since. In 2022, he was promoted to his current position of Full Professor.

His research mainly focuses on the physiology, ecophysiology and biochemistry of wine yeasts. He investigates the adaptation of different yeast species to the grape juice/wine environment together with their impact on wine properties. This includes the study of their nutritional requirements, the metabolism of nutrients into metabolites of oenological interest (e.g. aroma compounds), the yeast cell wall composition and extracellular enzymes.

Amongst other research outputs, he has published 80 scientific articles and graduated 14 PhD and 32 master’s students.