Napa County Approves Treasury Wine Estates’ New Napa. Valley Winery
Benjamin Ranch Winery
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On Tuesday, the Napa County Board of Supervisors swiftly approved to build the new Benjamin Ranch Winery near Conn Creek in the Rutherford Viticultural Area.
The board of supervisors took less than 15 minutes to adopt the project, a smaller winery than previous owners had proposed a few years ago.
Treasury Wine Estates announced in November 2021 it had acquired Frank Family Vineyards and its holdings, including the 85-acre Benjamin Ranch property off Conn Creek Road.
In May 2021, the Frank family had received the green light from the Napa County Planning Commission to build a 475,000-gallon winery on the Benjamin Ranch site.
Tuesday’s vote resolves the appeal vintner and neighbor Michael Honing/Keep Rutherford Rural filed in June 2021. Honig appealed Napa County Planning Commission’s 3-2 vote to approve the 475,000-gallon winery.
Honig/Keep Rutherford Rural argued – among other points – that the winery proposal should have undergone an in-depth environmental impact analysis given the project’s potential traffic congestion, an issue that could impair emergency evacuations. Honig also cited flood hazards, greenhouse gas emissions and water supply concerns.
The Napa County Board of Supervisors in June 2022 sent the project back to the Napa County Planning Commission for further review. However, that did not take place.
In April 2024, Treasury Wine Estates resubmitted a new, more modest proposal.
In September, Treasury Wine Estates and Honig said they had settled their differences and agreed on a smaller winery with fewer visitors.
The plans approved Tuesday include a winery building approximately 66,000 square feet in size – or 24.5 percent smaller than the original design proposed by the Frank family. The new plans also feature 84 parking spaces instead of 94.
The future new winery can welcome up to 700 visitors a week for wine tasting – or nearly 59 percent fewer than the number of guests approved in 2021. The winery can also host up to 500 marketing event attendees annually – or 56 percent fewer than what the Planning Commission voted in 2021.
Two supervisors – Anne Cottrell and Joelle Gallagher – were members of the Napa County Planning Commission in May 2021 when they voted against the project. On Tuesday, they did not hesitate to support the revised plans.
Cottrell on Tuesday thanked the parties involved for working out a compromise. “Working out a settlement avoids litigation and time and delay for everyone,” Cottrell said.
Cottrell said she appreciated the efforts to address the neighborhood’s concerns.
The winery was “significantly downscaled” from what it was in 2021, Cottrell said.
Honig, president, Honig Vineyard and Winery, called the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to praise Treasury Wine Estates and the settlement. “I’m happy with the changes,” Honig told the Board of Supervisors.
Rob Anglin, an attorney for Treasury Wine Estates said the company hit the “pause button” after it acquired the property.
Debra Dommen, vice president for government and industry affairs at Treasury Wine Estates, reached out to everyone who had commented on the project before the Planning Commission even if they were not part of the appellant group, Anglin said.
Tuesday’s vote was 4-0. Supervisor Belia Ramos recused herself, citing the restraining order she obtained over the summer against Dommen.
Ramos obtained the temporary restraining order after she told the court Dommen had distributed copies of a confidential letter from the Solano County Child Welfare Services involving one of her children, according to court records. Dommen opposed Ramos’ March re-election.
Ramos won another term to represent Coombsville, south Napa County and American Canyon.
A Napa County Superior Court judge lifted the restraining order after the dispute was settled.
Under the terms of the settlement, Dommen cannot distribute the Solano County Child Welfare Services letter which Dommen testified she had obtained from Ramos’ divorce file which was publicly available at Napa County Superior Court.