Save the Family Farms

Save the Family Farms is a group of owner-occupied grape growers, who grow grapes in Napa Valley, and produce less than 5,000 gallons of wine a year; we classify ourselves are “micro-producers.” Our members produce, on average approx. 1,000 cases of wine/year from fruit grown on estate vineyards. Current Napa County regulations take a one-size-fits-all regulatory approach, demanding small, family farms invest up to $10 million and several years of time trying for a use permit. 

Small family farms & vineyards are not designed to fit into a box designed for large scale winery facilities. Currently, there is no reasonable path to compliance for Napa’s smallest wine producers (micro-wineries). This is having a severe impact on Napa’s Small Family Farms. Owner-occupied Small Family Farms—arguably the heart and soul of Napa Valley are on the decline. Data shows 200 small family vineyards have either gone out of business or sold to investors in the last decade; we assume a portion of these sales are directly related to the unfair regulations imposed on Napa's smallest growers.

 For Small Family Farms & Vineyards to survive in a winemaking industry increasingly dominated by absentee-owners, the Napa County must acknowledge Family Farms’ historical, cultural, and winemaking legacy by creating a reasonable path to compliance to Napa’s “micro-producers” so they may participate in limited tastings together with direct-to-consumer sales.

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Our goal is to create a new avenue for existing small family farms & vineyard growers to participate in a “Micro-winery Ordinance” in Napa County. We do not want to change the Winery Definition Ordinance (WDO).  We want to create an ordinance for Napa Valley’s smallest legacy producers, that so they can stay in business and be able to pass on to their future generations.

https://www.savethefamilyfarms.com