California wine region passes moratorium on parties at wineries

Sep 11, 2013

(FoxNews) - Rather than downing bottles, California vineyards will now focus strictly on filling bottles if the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors has anything to do with it.

Yesterday, in a three to one vote, the San Joaquin County Planning Commission, which governs California’s burgeoning Lodi wine region, voted in favor of putting in place a 12-month moratorium on permitting parties at wineries in the county’s rural area, according to Fox40.

“I won’t support anything doesn’t have a moratorium in place, not for wineries, and not for expansion of existing wineries, but its event center component,” San Joaquin County Supervisor Steve Bestolarides told the planning commission on Tuesday.

The ordinance gets to the heart of a debate that pits purist vineyards focused on agricultural heritage against a booming social enterprise.

In recent years, Lodi and Acampo wineries have expanded their businesses to include what they call “marketing events,” fundraisers, parties, weddings and concerts that staunch supporters of the moratorium say take the focus away from the craft of winemaking, say Fox40.

Bruce Fry, president of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau and vice president of operations for Lodi-based Mohr-Fry Ranches, said the moratorium would help separate the region’s real vintners from the posers.  


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