Napa County has spent more than $830,000 on outside counsel on its lawsuit against Hoopes Vineyard as of the end of September, according to the county.
A legal battle over whether the Hoopes Vineyard winery or Napa County has gone rogue in interpreting county regulations — and whether some of those rules are unconstitutional — has taken new turns.
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.
Heather Holmes takes an in-depth look at the dispute between local wineries and Napa county.
The Constitution guarantees the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but what about the pursuit of customers?
KQED press conference coverage from November 8, 2023
“We called it The Oasis because it’s in a bucolic setting,” said Hoopes, a Wine Country native and former San Francisco prosecutor. “I actually pulled out two acres of vines here to reintroduce biodiversity and animals into our regenerative farming practices.”
Napa’s endless vineyards have long been protected from the threat of other industry, but non-wine locals are biting back.
Smith-Madrone and Summit Lake wineries want in on the legal dispute between Napa County and Hoopes Vineyard winery, saying they have a stake in the outcome.
Small wineries Smith-Madrone and Summit Lake have joined Hoopes Vineyard in its countersuit against Napa County over regulation of on-site marketing by vintners with permits that predate a three-decade-old landmark local law.