Paul Franson NapaLife does a very nice job summarizing our overall message and strategy!

Group formed to legalize tastings at vineyards

One of the ironies of the wine business in Napa Valley is that you can’t host tastings in the unincorporated area unless you have a winery, and that requires at least a 10-acre parcel and millions of dollars plus a long time to get a permit and build a winery.

Since you generally only do that if you have a vineyard, this probably also results in taking out vines, installing a septic system or trucking out waste, maybe cutting down trees and adding employees at a time when plenty of existing wineries and custom wineries have the capacity to make wine for you.

Many small wineries have quietly hosted illegal tastings on their vineyards for many years, often at their homes, and this can account for significant revenue for a small winery, especially since it often leads to the tasters signing up for wine clubs.

Of late, however, the county has been cracking down and told these vineyard-only wineries to comply or else. Many have been fined and their future viability could require them to build wineries to host tastings on property.

That’s just what we need in Napa Valley: more wineries.

In response, grape grower Bill Wolf, who owns Eagle Eye Winery, and other small family growers have formed “Save the Family Farms” to convince the supervisors to allow family farms to host tastings and sales on their properties without building a winery. Obviously, there would have to be limits so they don’t turn their homes into event centers.

You can find out more at www.savethefamilyfarms.com or email contact@savethefamilyfarms.com.

Some wineries would like to build a tasting facility instead of a winery, which should be smaller than a winery and have less impact, while others have chosen to build or join a tasting facility in the cities, where it is legal. Not that the cities need many more tasting rooms, for that matter.