It carries the distinction of being the only university in Canada to offer an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Oenology and Viticulture - see the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.
His works include fiction, biography, history, poetry, biography, literary and art criticism, including medicine and œnology.
After graduation in Plumpton College with a First Class Bachelor of Science (hons) in Viticulture and Oenology, Kemp completed her PhD thesis on the effects of vine leaf removal on fruit ripening at Lincoln University (New Zealand) beginning in April 2007 and finishing in August 2010.
The Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, was established in 1996 and is a partnership with the Wine Council of Ontario (WCO) and the Ontario Grape Growers Marketing Board, now the Grape Growers of Ontario (GGO).
It was named for University of California Professor of Viticulture and Enology Frederick Bioletti when he was an undergraduate.
At Vassilis's retirement, the company was taken over by his son, Dimitris Kourtakis, who had studied oenology in Dijon, France.