(SCMP) - In February a Napa County Superior Court judge handed down a tentative ruling favouring a controversial vineyard project on Atlas Peak, Walt Ranch, that would cut down 14,000 mature trees – some of them 300 years old.

Locals have been worried about erosion, traffic, and the irrigation demands that a 209-acre ( 84-hectare) vineyard will put on an already sensitive watershed.

They also fear that the vintners behind it, who own Hall Wines in St Helena, California, secretly plan to add a residential complex.