Bill Hocker | Jul 29, 2014

Geoff Ellsworth sent a copy of the correspondence leading up the approval of changes to the WDO in 2010. Most of the correspondence is also included in the Planning Commission hearing agenda of April 21, 2010 but also includes some late additions. An archive of the EIR documents for the original 1990 WDO is here.

The interesting thing that comes across in the discussion is that the excuse for the changes are to relieve the beating taken by the winery and tourism industries during the recession, but the real intent was to begin increasing food service at wineries. The event planners and the Winegrowers of Napa Valley (the most free market group of the 4 'stakeholders') proposed the original language of the revision, and were quite unhappy with the final product. That final product was seen as a helpful or restrictive (depending on who was looking) clarification of what marketing events allowed in the 1990 WDO might be. Why then, would it be changed at all if only clarifications were needed. Two significant changes were, in fact, made.

The first was the addition of food service to the allowed tours and tastings. This is a really significant change because the tasting room, open every day, essentially becomes a prix fixe set menu restaurant with reserved tables.
From 1990:

"Tours and tastings" shall mean tours of the winery and/or tastings of wine, where such tours and tastings are limited to members of the wine trade, persons invited by a winery who have pre-established business or personal relationships with the winery or its owners, and persons who have made unsolicited prior appointmens for tours or tastings.

And from 2010:

"Tours and tastings" means tours of the winery and/or tastings of wine, where such tours and tastings are limited to persons who have made unsolicited prior appointments for tours or tastings. Tours and tastings may include food and wine pairings, where all such food service is provided without charge except to the extent of cost recovery and is incidental to the tasting of wine. Food service may not involve menu options and meal service such that the winery functions as a café or restaurant.

What exactly is the difference between "food service" and "meal service"? And many restaurants, like Chez Panisse, offer no menu options. The purpose in the change was to allow food service to fall under the definition of tours and tastings, something only allowed under events before. What regulator could make the distinction between "food service" and "meal service"?

And here are the two passages relating to "Marketing of Wine": The differences are as much in emphasis as in substance and probably reflect a new interest on the part of the supervisors in encouraging tourism rather than regulating it. The mention of cultural and social events is in the negative in 1990 and inclusive in 2010 with business events clearly encouraged. "Business Events" in fact have a larger paragraph devoted to them than that devoted to the actual definition of marketing events which probably means they, like weddings, had been seen as an excluded "social activity" before.

From 1990:

Marketing of Wine shall mean any activity of a winery identified in this paragraph which is conducted at the winery and is limited to members of the wine trade persons who have pre-established business or personal relationships with the winery or its owners, or members of a particular group for which the activity is being conducted on a pre-arranged basis. Marketing of wine is limited to activities for the education and development of the persons or groups listed above with respect to wine which can be sold at the the winery on a retail basis pursuant to Article 4 of this title, and may include food service without charge except to the extent of cost recovery when provided in association with such education and development, but shall not include cultural and social events unrelated to such education and development.

From 2010:

Marketing of wine" means any activity of a winery which is conducted at the winery on a prearranged basis for the education and development of customers and potential customers with respect to wine which can be sold at the winery on a retail basis pursuant to Chapters 18.16 and 18.20. Marketing of wine may include cultural and social events directly related to the education and development of customers and potential customers provided such events are clearly incidental, related and subordinate to the primary use of the winery. Marketing of wine may include food service, including food and wine pairings, where all such food service is provided without charge except to the extent of cost recovery.

Business events are similar to cultural and social events, in that they will only be considered as "marketing of wine" if they are directly related to the education and development of customers and potential customers of the winery and are part of a marketing plan approved as part of the winery's use permit. Marketing plans in their totality must remain "clearly incidental, related and subordinate to the primary operation of the winery as a production facility" (subsection (G)(5) of Sections 18.16.030 and subsection (I)(5) of 18.20.030). To be considered directly related to the education and development of customers or potential customers of the winery, business events must be conducted at no charge except to the extent of recovery of variable costs, and any business content unrelated to wine must be limited. Careful consideration shall be given to the intent of the event, the proportion of the business event's non-wine-related content, and the intensity of the overall marketing plan.

It may be that the large increase in tourism now upon us would have happened, as Bill Dodd feels, even if no changes had happened to the WDO in 2010. It may have been a change in attitude of the supervisors and commissioners following the recession that has led to so much capacity and tourist slot expansion. At this point settling the why may be less important than dealing with the current reality.

It is also worth calling out the letter from the City of Calistoga in the correspondence linked above which recognized the specific damages allowing tourism increases in the vineyards would have to the towns, a move in contradiction to Napa County's own general plan.

The newspaper stories of the time give some context:

SH Str 10/10/09: Weddings at Wineries
NBBJ 11/23/09: Groups examine winery event rules
NBBJ 3/1/10: Napa Supervisors to hear arguments on winery event rules
NBBJ 3/8/10: Napa supervisors back some changes to winery ordinance


I have subsequently gone on another rant over the winery-restaurant issue here.

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