Julie Nord

Julie Nord is one of the few women vineyard managers in California. Since she joined Nord Coast Vineyard Service in 1994, the company has quadrupled in size. Julie Nord was raised in the Napa Valley around agriculture all her life. While working her way through various aspects of the vineyard and winery industry, Ms. Nord received her B.A. in Chemistry and Music from U.C. Davis and went on to Texas A&M University for a M.S. in Soil Science. After spending time as a lab director for a soil testing and remediation lab in Texas, Ms. Nord returned to Napa Valley as a co-owner of Nord Coast Vineyard Service.

Julie has encouraged a pest management philosophy that uses integrated pest management (IPM) within sustainable agriculture. NcVs received the 2003 IPM Innovator Award from California Department of Pesticide Regulation. According to Ms. Nord, “In cultivating winegrapes, NcVs strives to achieve balanced, sustainable whole farming systems by seeking and implementing actions that foster biological diversity, soil and crop health, and employee contribution and development, while reducing dependence on chemical inputs and consumption of natural resources.”

Julie has been vital in maintaining and improving relationships with vineyard neighbors. In 2001 she started a “Vineyard Open House” for neighbors and friends at a vineyard in Yountville. It was so successful the Napa Valley Vintners adopted the program and have expanded it to the whole county and 12 sites. NcVs provides one of the sites to visit annually.

Spanish education for vineyard workers has been a focus for Julie. She coordinated a field day for Spanish vineyard managers in 2002. This led to the founding of Napa Spanish Viticulture Technology which presents new viticulture research to vineyard managers in Spanish.

In 2002 Julie received an award from Farm Bureau for received recognition 2002 for “leadership on the winegrape Pesticide Alliance and commitment to Napa County’s Agricultural Industry”.