How can anyone in the wine business not appreciate Duarte Nursery’s phone number: 1-800-GRAFTED?
2020 Best Nursery: Duarte Nursery Field Reps
Best yet, the number makes perfect sense, says John Duarte.
“We’re the pioneer and innovator in clonal rootstocks and clean plant programs for each of our crops,” says Duarte. “And we are the largest permanent crops nursery in the United States.”
In this, Duarte’s innovations include the trademarked UberVine, the three-foot tall “super vine” [grapevine?] that comes into production more quickly and minimizes field training costs. In addition, it lets growers plant deeper and have more vine to avoid scion rooting.
“Duarte strives to provide our customers with the highest quality plants in the industry, and that they’ll possess superior plant cleanliness, genetics, and production yield,” says Duarte. “We have a commitment to innovation, a dedication to quality, and a responsibility to support our product in the field to ensure our customers receive a plant with unparalleled value.”
2020 Best Nursery: Duarte Nursery
That’s been the case since 1989, when Jim and wife Anita opened Duarte Nursery with their sons John and Jeff. The family had been in viticulture since the 1970s, but two things brought the Duartes to Hughson in the Central Valley (near Modesto) about a decade later: The rise in popularity of red wine and threat of Phylloxera. The land, not coincidentally, had been in the Duarte family since 1908, a total of five generations.
Since then, the nursery has sold almonds, pistachios, walnuts, hemp, and poinsettias in addition to grapevines, serving some 2,000 customers a year. Jeff and John now own the business.
