Napa County wins compliance court case involving Hoopes Winery

NAPA, CA - Napa County announced today a favorable ruling from the State Superior Court in the compliance lawsuit against Hoopes Vineyard.

"Napa County is committed to a fair and effective winery permit process," said Brian Bordona, Director of Planning, Building and Environmental Services. "This ruling is a culmination of many years of code enforcement efforts by the County to bring Hoopes into compliance, beginning with a request for voluntary compliance. This is a significant step in upholding the integrity of our County codes, ensuring public health, safety and fair business practices."

Since 2019, the County has engaged with Hoopes Vineyard to ensure their operations comply with County regulations. Initial investigations revealed that Hoopes conducted wine tastings without the necessary use permit, a critical requirement intended to protect public health, safety, and the environment. Despite multiple requests from the County for compliance, Hoopes refused to obtain the appropriate permits and continued its operations, disregarding these legal and environmental safeguards.

"Hundreds of local wineries adhere to our regulations daily, safeguarding public health and ensuring fair business practices," Bordona added. "It is unfortunate that we had to resort to legal action with Hoopes. Despite our best efforts to collaborate with them to meet these important standards, our proposals were refused. Consequently, we had to rely on the judicial system to uphold these principles."

Since 2006, Napa County issued use permits or modifications to approximately 327 wineries and in doing so, worked with many of these businesses one-on-one to navigate the permitting process to comply with local and state requirements. The County also introduced a Voluntary Code Compliance Program in 2019, assisting 49 wineries in meeting local and state requirements voluntarily.

Historically, Hoopes operated under a Small Winery Permit Exemption secured by a previous owner in 1984, which allowed bottle sales of onsite-produced wine, but not tasting or tours without a permit. After three years of repeated code violations and failed compliance attempts, the County initiated legal action in October 2022.

The Court's decision noted, "Although the NCC (Napa County Code) amendments allowed wineries operating with a permit to offer tours and tastings, these uses were prohibited for small wineries operating without a use permit. The NCC, then and now, precludes 'small winery' public tours and all tastings, by definition." The ruling also highlighted that Hoopes was aware of these permitting requirements prior to acquisition.

In light of this ruling, Napa County will determine appropriate penalties for Hoopes and will seek reimbursement of legal fees incurred by the County.