St. Helena, Calif.—A memorial service was held Jan. 6 for Volker Eisele, a grape grower, vintner and passionate advocate for the preservation of farmland and open space in Napa County. Eisele died Jan. 2 at his ranch at the age of 77. He purchased the 400-acre ranch in the Chiles Valley of Napa County in 1974 and would become a well-known and respected grape grower and later produced wine under the Volker Eisele Family Estate label. Eisele was a past president of the Napa County Farm Bureau as well as the Napa Valley Grape Growers. He championed measures J and P that required voter approval to develop any farmland in Napa County.