Napa County’s grape-growing community lost a trusted advisor this week, with the passing of Ed Weber.

Weber, the longtime UC Cooperative Extension’s director for Napa County, collapsed Monday as he rode his bike on Finnell Road east of Yountville, according to the Napa County Sheriff’s Department. He was 51.

Two passers-by found Weber lying on the road, Napa County Sheriff Capt. Gene Lyerla said Wednesday. The cause of death was a heart condition, he said.

A bicycle rider tried to perform CPR, but Weber was pronounced dead at Queen of the Valley Medical Center at 12:32 p.m. Monday, Lyerla said.

Weber, a trained viticulturist at UC Davis who became a farm advisor here in 1988 and lived in Napa, was a fount of knowledge on viticulture, according to colleagues and grapegrowers who worked with him.

“He was kind of the go-to person if you were interested in planting a vineyard or trying to figure out what was wrong with the vines,” Napa County Agricultural Commissioner David Whitmer said Wednesday.

Local grower and vineyard consultant Julie Nord said Weber was the expert relied on.

“Anytime you had a problem, you could call him,” said Nord. “He’s the first one you called.”

As a farm advisor, Weber educated the public on the latest research on pest management, techniques for getting the most out of vines and other facets of viticulture. Colleagues said he could take the most complicated data and convey its importance to the general public in a concise, clear way.

Andy Beckstoffer, a past president of Napa Valley Grapegrowers, said Weber offered objective advice in an intelligent, mild-mannered way.

“He was a true professional,” Beckstoffer said. “He really was.”

As an administrator, Weber supervised the county’s master gardener program and advised the county’s 4-H youth projects.

Weber is survived by his wife, Anne Jungerman, and three sons. Funeral arrangements are pending, according to Kim Rodrigues, the regional director of UC Cooperative Extension.