If the idea of mixing geology and wine seems unusual, consider the life of James E. Wilson.

A Texas native who used his degree in geological engineering and experience in field-mapping to build a long career with Shell Oil Co., the Colorado resident also developed a love for wine during a posting in New Orleans and travel through Europe.

Eventually, he brought the two fields together in the 1998 book Terroir: The Role of Geology, Climate and Culture in the Making of French Wines. Original title: Wine on the Rocks With a Splash of History.

"He was so curious about 'How do things work? How is this so?' " Elizabeth Barkley Wilson said of her father, who died Sept. 15 at age 93 of natural causes at his home in Cherry Hills Village.

"He had a wide-ranging curiosity about so many things," she said by phone from her home in New York.

Mr. Wilson was born April 19, 1915, in McKinney, Texas, to James E. Wilson Sr. and Agnes Neil Wilson. After receiving his master's degree at Texas A&M University, he joined Shell Oil in 1938 and began to conduct geological field mapping.

While at work near Rockdale, Texas, he saw a girl with red hair wearing yellow slacks and being trailed by several cats. Her name was Elloie Barkley, and they were married in 1941, recalled Mr. Wilson's daughter Judith Wilson Grant, of Greenwood Village. Mrs. Wilson died several years ago.

Mr. Wilson was drafted into the Army in 1942 and with the Reconnaisance Battalion of the 3rd Armored "Spearhead" Division and was part of the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Wounded there, he became an instructor in the intelligence branch of the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

In 1945 he retired from active duty with the rank of major and returned to Shell. After stints in the United States and The Hague, with Royal Dutch Shell, he was named vice president for exploration and production. He worked in that position in Houston, New Orleans and Denver, until his 1973 retirement and a new career as a petroleum consultant and writer.

It was in New Orleans that he was inducted into the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, an international wine appreciation organization based at the Chateau du Clos du Vougeot in Nuits-Saint- Georges, France. He helped found a chapter in Denver upon moving here in 1976.

"He was of the old school in the best sense of the word," Grant said. "He was a gentleman, and he made it work in the modern world. He was one of the great men in my life."

Even as he began to lose his sight and depend on a walker, "if a lady came into the room, he would stand up to greet her," Grant said.

"That has rubbed off on me and my children. A lot has rubbed off on me. He always said to follow your heart."

Mr. Wilson was preceded in death by his sister, Mary Wood, of Little Rock. Along with his daughters, he is survived by four grandchildren.

Contributions in Mr. Wilson's memory may be made to the Association of Former Students, Texas A&M University, 505 George Bush Drive, College Station, TX, 77840-2918.

Grant said plans for a celebration of his life will be announced at a later date.

Originally published by Mary Voelz Chandler, Rocky Mountain News.

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