Second Generation

George David Wilson—known as Dave to his friends—is the eldest of the four children born to George and Isabelle Wilson.

Dave learned farming "on the job" beginning at the age of 12, and, like his father, he strived to be the best that he could be at everything he did. As a teenager, he looked forward to doing a hard day’s work with "the rest of the men" and he especially enjoyed driving big trucks hauling loads of tomatoes and sugar beets to market throughout the Central Valley. His salary in those early days was 75 cents per hour.

The farm produced about 1600 acres of row crops when Dave was a teenager and he loved the hours he spent in the fields. He tells of watching the seagulls swoop down to catch field mice that were uncovered when he turned the soil with the tractor.

"During the summers when I was a teenager, I lived in a bunkhouse on Little Holland Island with the rest of the men," he remembers, “and I loved driving tractor and cultivator. I felt like I was really part of the crew. On a tractor I had time to think about things and contemplate the world. I was connected to the earth and my Christian heritage. Every season I watched the crops grow and I realized a greater power was behind it all. ”

World War II was in full swing when Dave graduated from Clarksburg High School. He joined the Navy in 1944 and enrolled at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, expecting to ship out as a Merchant Marine after training. But two things happened that changed his plans: the war ended and the Masters, Mates and Pilots Union (i.e., the Merchant Marines), as well as the Longshoremen went on strike. After waiting out the strike for six months with no prospects of going to sea, Dave came home and enrolled in the University of California, Davis.

He met the love of his life, Erma Thielen, while they were still in high school and they were married when he returned from the Maritime Academy in 1947. Erma worked as an office manager for Remington Rand (the typewriter and shaver manufacturer) in Sacramento and helped pay Dave’s way through UC Davis. A month before his graduation, the first child of the third generation of Wilsons was born—Mark Wilson. The next year, second son Ken was born and daughter Sandra followed four years later.

Back to the Land

With a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture in hand, Dave moved his growing family back to Clarksburg in 1950. He started farming with his younger brother Richard and together they farmed 500 acres of tomatoes, sugar beets, corn, wheat and alfalfa.

The First Wine Grapes

In 1957, Dave went out on his own to farm 180 acres of his father’s land and another 325 acres for himself. Always a forward-thinking man willing to try new things, he planted his first fifteen acres of Zinfandel and fifteen acres of Barbera wine grapes in 1971. It was a big step. At the time, only a few acres of wine grapes were being grown in the Clarksburg area. He kept most of his land in row crops—tomatoes, sugar beets, corn, alfalfa, wheat, safflower, and onions.

As he started marketing his own grapes, Dave met with representatives from wineries around the state, like Peter Mondavi of Charles Krug Winery; Peter’s brother Robert Mondavi of Mondavi Vineyards; Jim Concannon of Concannon Winery; Mike Lee of Kenwood Winery; and his favorite vintner, August Sebastiani. He threw himself into the business with enthusiasm.

In 1972, he planted fifteen additional acres of Zinfandel and thirty acres of Napa Gamay. In 1973, he added fifty-two acres of Petite Sirah, which has become a Clarksburg Appellation flagship varietal. He planted his first Chenin Blanc vineyards in 1978, which has proven to be another Clarksburg flagship varietal. The very warm summer days and cool evenings blessed with delta breezes provide the climate these varietals love.

Leading the Way

Dave learned the business of growing grapes from the ground up. From experience, he learned to harvest grapes during the cool of the night so that he could deliver them to wineries before sunrise the next morning at the height of their quality. Though he preferred to machine-harvest grapes, he worked with wineries to meet their specific needs and desires.

When his customer Peter Mondavi asked that grapes be "handpicked" for quality, Dave delivered a harvest of handpicked grapes to him. Being handpicked, the stems were still attached—and the stems plugged the winery’s crusher! Changing his mind about handpicked grapes, Mondavi requested machine-harvested loads from that moment forward and left all future decisions about producing the highest quality grapes to Dave.

Wilson Vineyards continues the tradition of accommodating its customers’ needs—whatever they may be—in its wine grape operation today.

The Next Generation

Dave handed over the operation of Wilson Farms and Wilson Vineyards to the third generation about the time he celebrated his 70th birthday. He remained chairman of the board of Wilson Farms until 2003 and still serves on the board of directors. He also serves on the board of trustees for Reclamation District 999 in Clarksburg and is an active member of the Clarksburg Community Church and West Sacramento Rotary Club.