Group of Napa County wineries fighting to keep on-site wine tastings
A small group of wineries in Napa County are banding together to fight Napa County's contention that they do not qualify for on-site wine tasting.
The vintners said it is essential to their businesses and are calling on state and federal officials to help protect what they say are their civil rights.
In 1990, the number of wine tasting operations was growing rapidly, and Napa County established a permit system for new ones, placing limits on the number and size of on-site tours and tastings.
But wineries that were already operating, like the Hopper Creek Winery in Oakville, were given an exemption from having to get a permit.
"We are existing wineries, and these are existing rights," said LIndsay Hoopes.
She bought the Hopper Creek property in 2017 to create Hoopes Vineyards and Winery. They offer wine tasting, just as the facility has for nearly 40 years.
But now, the county is suing Hoopes to stop that, claiming, while she may be exempt from getting a permit, she is not exempt from the rules that come with it.
Arthur Hartinger, an attorney representing the county, said in a statement: "A use permit exemption does not allow for tours, tastings or consuming wine on the premises. The prior owner, called Hopper Creek winery, only possessed the use permit exemption and that is what Hoopes purchased."
"Today, the Napa County government is functionally trying to take our rights to operate as wineries," said Hoopes. "This will force us to sell or close."
But Hoopes is a former San Francisco deputy D.A., and she is countersuing, saying if the winery predates the rules, the rules shouldn't apply. That lawsuit is still being considered, but Hoopes and two other wineries are stepping up the pressure.
They've sent a request to state and federal officials, asking them to investigate the matter as a civil rights violation.
"We need the Attorney General and the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California to step in and protect our small businesses, and others, that are too afraid to come forward from this monumental government overreach," said Hoopes.
Heather Griffin spoke for her father, Bob Brakesman, who founded Summit Lake Vineyards and Winery in the town of Angwin. The county isn't suing them, but they're joining the effort because they hold the same use permit exemption as Hoopes does.
"My dad is part of the living history here in the Napa Valley and people like him and our family are why people come to Napa," said Griffin. "They come here to sit and visit, and have a glass of wine with the people who made it, where it was grown."
The lawsuit against Hoopes Winery is still ongoing, but the judge in the case denied a restraining order preventing the on-site tastings. So, until it's decided, they are free to serve wine to customers, as they have for the last 39 years.
The county rules treat wine like an agricultural product, regulating where it can be bought and sold. But those who make their livings from wine say it is the experience of tasting that gives it its magic. Without that, it's nothing more than sour grapes.
