Ernie Van Asperen
Rue Ziegler, cultural anthropologist and RDS board member, conducted this interview with Ernie & Virginia Van Asperen on October 17, 2003. The excerpts below cover the period from 1968 to the present day.
Ernie Van Asperen was born in Oakland, CA and has spent most of his life operating over eighty Ernie's Liquors Stores throughout California. In 1968 Ernie and his wife Virginia decided to move to Napa Valley and purchased a ranch and vineyard in the hills west of historic St. Helena. Ernie decided to produce his own wines using the grapes from their vineyard, rather than sell them to other wineries around the Valley. This began his newfound hobby and passion of winemaking. After several years of producing quality wines that earned him respect and admiration from close friends and colleagues, Ernie decided to start selling his wines to local retailers and with the help of his close friend and partner Charlie Abela, a buzz grew around the Napa Valley over his terrific wines. Ernie and Virginia, along with several other partners started Round Hill Vineyards in 1977. By 1986 a new winery facility was constructed on the famed Silverado Trail, just east of Rutherford. Coincidently, that same year the winery was named Winery of the Year by The International Wine Review.
What started as a hobby has turned into a commercial success for Ernie. The wines have consistently won praise and accolades from wine critics alike, including being named, the 2nd Fastest Growing California Winery in 1993. Ernie and his wife Virginia decided to retire in 2000 and sold Round Hill to Marko and Theo Zaninovich, who had been stockholders in the winery. Today Ernie enjoys the life of retirement while spending most of his time traveling the world with his wife Virginia.