(Wine-Searcher) - Tougher rules around immigrant labor could see a hike in wine prices in California's wine heartland.

Compared to other farm regions, economically Napa Valley is, in the words of Ronald Reagan, a shining city on a hill. But it's not immune to the worker shortages troubling California agriculture, and it also has unique labor problems of its own.

Vineyard workers are not the only Napa Valley employees in short supply: it's difficult to find enough workers locally to staff offices, laboratories, tasting rooms, you name it. But getting people to tend grapevines has become such a struggle that recruiting sounds like a spy mission.