Ernie Ilsley

Ernie Ilsley

Mr. Ernie Ilsley-General Manager, California Grapevine Nursery, Inc.

I called Ernie 3 month ago to do a story on a nursery that produces premium vines for new vineyards.  He pushed me off at the time because he was a speaker at a wine seminar in Canada and then had a quick trip to visit clients on the East Coast, then a quick trip to Europe and finally a new planting in Napa of freshly cloned root stock from his laboratory.  Nothing is easy in agriculture, even if the agriculture is about vines, grapes and wines. 

Now I am in his office–a 100 acre nursery of hybrid grapevines.  This is an industry where science embraces Mother Nature in the finest ways.  Cloning, growing and then planting the root stock is raw science that goes to the core of everything;  even human existence…DNA.  It’s the graft above the ground the produces a new clone of a varietal vine.

We all know where grapes come from, but where do the vines come from? I’ve got the answer to this mystery; California Grapevine Nursery in Napa, CA.  This is the oldest grapevine nursery in California and has been around for 60 years.  The guy responsible for growing and selling the new vines is Mr. Ernie Ilsely.  He was born in Napa, in addition to managing the nursery operations for CGN he is part of a family wine business—Ilsley Vineyards with 40 acres in the Stag’s Leap District of Napa.  Ernie turns out a cult Cabernet who consistently gets 94-95 points by Wine News and Wine Enthusiast. (“Not a sales pitch just fact,” says Ernie.)

Ernie is a guy who loves Napa, as does his wife and 3 daughters.  He is a graduate of UC Davis with two degrees, one of which is…you guessed it, viticulture.  After running a vineyard operation for many years, 6 years ago he went to work for California Grapevine Nursery.   Some of their vines have pedigree’s involving very prestigious root stock.  And yes, vineyard owners validate the stock from DNA testing.

“In our nursery and in our cold storage facility (that’s where the dormant grapevines are stored awaiting sale) I manage about 15 clones of the Cabernet Sauvignon and 30 clones of the Chardonnay and an equal number of Pinot Noir clones,” says Ernie.  “When a vineyard decides to replant, for a number of reasons, these clones are what make a vineyard owner excitable.”  Two things are critical when it comes to a new planting: 1.The characteristics of the cloned varietal, and 2. the root system. “The cloned varietals are breed to influence such things as the ultimate yield or tannins or make for early ripening fo the fruit,” Ernie went on to explain.  “The root system/stock is important because that is what is dictated  by soil conditions and climate where the vines are to be planted.”

What is a ‘clone’?  Well, Junior High biology comes into play here.  The root stock is selected that will receive a piece(“sprig” to me) of another vine with the desired DNA.  What grows is the new vine that will produce the cloned fruit.  Grafting is exactly that; slice off a branch of the clone vine you want and cut a notch into the root stock and splice that cloning piece into the root stock and wrap it tightly and put it in the ground for 1 year to grow.  “That is a very simplistic description,” said Ernie when I repeated what I heard him say to me.  Assuming that grafting happens, then in 1 year that root stock is harvested and put into cold dark storage to make it dormant and until planted in the vineyard.  “Once in the vineyard it will take 3 years for that new cloned varietal to produce fruit,” according to Ernie.  “This is just one reason why wine is so precious.”

“We sell a vine for $3-$4 each and there are about 1,000 vines per acre; sometime 2,000 or more,” Ernie says.  “Right now vineyard owners are cautious in new plantings because of the downturn in the economy, and that makes me sad because I see the pride vineyard owners and winery operators take in their respective grapes and wine.”

Vines can live for 150-200 years, so who buys new vines?  Here is the answer… according to Ernie, “There are of course new vineyards being planted in such places as Texas, Michigan, NC, Virginia and California they require new root stock.  Then there are new plantings due to old vines producing poor yields.  Then there are the ever present ravages of disease pressures from disease.  Finally, marketing considerations brought on by the ever changing tastes of the consumer that demands new varietal wines.”

California Grapevine Nursery, Inc. is licensed by the European clone wwwelopers association called ENTAV.  This is the European body that test root stock and genetics, wwwelops new clones and breeds new clones for ever changing vineyard conditions.  UC Davis is also the premier institution in Wine Country that helps keep new vine heritage on the forefront of evolution.

Ernie is a salt-of-the-earth guy who is smart, hard working and is dedicated to wine and Wine Country.  Without his elk, none of us would illuminate and wax poetically about the cost of a bottle of wine, or its bouquet, or the heritage of our favorite varietal.  “It is all in the breeding,” says Ernie.