Napa County’s Planning Commission has given the green light to build a new winery in Oakville.
Bonny’s Vineyard
Map: Kerana Todorov – Created with DataWrapper
The new Bonny’s Vineyard winery, proposed by Meyer Family Enterprises, can produce up to 30,000 gallons of wine a year. It includes a 11,000 square-foot wine production facility and tasting room and a patio on 25.5 acres off of Skellenger Lane.
The property features a 17-acre vineyard planted mostly in Cabernet Sauvignon, said Matt Meyer, whose family has owned the property for years.
Owning a winery on Skellenger Lane will allow the family to produce wine on site instead of trucking the fruit to their winery in Anderson Valley, Meyer said after the meeting. One of their wine brands is Bonny’s Vineyard, an Oakville AVA Cabernet Sauvignon.
The family also sells fruit to other wine producers.
Under the conditions of approval, Bonny’s Vineyard can welcome up to 45 visitors by appointment seven days a week. In addition, the winery can host two marketing events a year with up to 150 visitors and nine others with up to 80 visitors.
Cameron Pridmore, of CMP Civil Engineering and Land Surveying, said the property owners instructed his firm to design a sustainable project.
The site is served with three water wells. The applicant proposed to install a new system to treat winery’s waste water. The recycled water is slated to be used for irrigation, resulting in a decrease in water usage. The wells will be monitored.
The Meyer family bought the initial 3.5 acres in 1972. The rest of the property was acquired in 2010. A lot adjustment was completed in 2011. The property now includes two residences.
“We obviously love the property,” Meyer told the Planning Commission. “Napa is a very special place and we want to do our part to be good stewards of the community.”
The Meyer family’s ties to the Napa Valley run deep.
His mother, Bonny Meyer. and late father, Justin Meyer, co-founded Silver Oak with Ray Duncan. Justin Meyer sold his shares in 2001.
Fermenting the wine at the winery instead of Anderson Valley will allow the winery to join the Napa Valley Vintners, Matt Meyer said.
Planning commissioners praised the sustainability features of the project.
Planning Commission Chairman Dave Whitmer did have reservations about nighttime events given the isolated property location. Sound carries at night, he said.
Matt Meyer agreed one had to be conscious of one’s neighbors. Whitmer said he appreciated that and would support the project.
The vote was 3-0. Two commissioners – Andrew Mazotti and Heather Phillips – were absent.
Wednesday was Whitmer’s last planning commission meeting as two new supervisors – Liz Alessio and Amber Manfree – are expected to join the board and nominates two new planning commissioners.
Alessio and Manfree succeed Supervisors Ryan Gregory fand Alfredo Pedroza. Both Gregory and Pedroza did not run for re-election.
Each supervisor nominates a Planning Commissioner to the Planning Commission which reviews land use issues, including proposals to build wineries.
Whitmer, a former Napa County Agricultural Commissioner who was named to the Napa County Planning Commission in 2018 by Gregory, on Wednesday joked he had been given the “boot.”
Supervisor Chairwoman Joelle Gallagher came to the meeting to read a proclamation about Whitmer.
Whitmer was praised for his “deep understanding” of the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve, agriculture and the wine industry as well as his listening and problem solving skills and attention to details.
Whitmer, who praised the staff, said he will miss the “people.”
“It’s been an honor,” an emotional Whitmer said.
The second opening is Mazotti’s position. Mazotti, a real estate developer, was named to the Planning Commission in 2018 by Pedroza.