Napa County approves microwinery at Stewart Ranch, home of ‘belted cows’
Guests at the planned Belted Vines microwinery at the Stewart Ranch near the city of Napa will be able to see the ranch’s Belted Galloway cattle.
A small winery is set to join the Belted Galloway cows – called “Oreo cows” by some observers – that graze the hillside of the Stewart Ranch along Highway 29 south of the city of Napa.
Stewart Ranch has won Napa County approval for the Belted Vines microwinery.
Maximum on-site fermentation will be 250 gallons per year, allowing the venture to fit within the county’s microwinery category.
Guests will go to a 1928 building that was the storefront for Stewart Dairy decades ago. Instead of buying milk, they’ll be sipping wine. Refrigerated lockers once used for milk would keep the wine chilled.
Visitors will have a good view of the Belted Galloway cattle that have long gained the notice of drivers on nearby Highway 29. The black cows with the broad white stripes aren’t leaving because a microwinery is coming, but rather will become an attraction.
“That’s how we came up with the name ‘Belted Vines,’” said Ailene Pritchett Tarap, whose great-grandfather John Stewart bought the land that became the family ranch in 1903 for $12,500.
Belted Vines already exists as a label, though not yet as a microwinery with a tasting room that guests can visit. The family grows grapes to make wine at an off site custom crush winery and sells it on a website.
Ailene Pritchett Tarap, her husband Paul Tarap and her son James McGlothern appeared before the county zoning administrator on June 25 with their microwinery proposal. The public hearing was held in the Board of Supervisors chamber in downtown Napa.
“This is the realization of a dream they’ve had for some period of time,” consultant Jeffrey Redding said on behalf of the family.
Zoning administrator Brian Bordona approved the project during a 14-minute hearing.
Napa County created the microwinery category three years ago to streamline approval for small wineries, allowing applicants to make their case before the zoning administrator instead of the Planning Commission. Belted Vines is the third microwinery to gain approval.
Microwineries can produce no more than 5,000 gallons of wine per year and must ferment at least 201 gallons on their premises. They can generate no more than 10 round trips of traffic daily. They also must grow at least 75% of the grapes used in onsite fermentation on the property or adjacent properties.
“It just kind of seemed to work with us,” Ailene Pritchett Tarap said.
The approval allows the winery to host up to 10 daily visitors, only by appointment. No marketing events will be permitted. The family also must widen the driveway from 12 to 22 feet to meet county road standards.
Belted Vines will produce its wine at an off-site custom crush facility and move it to the microwinery for fermentation and aging. Another 3,800 gallons will be produced and fermented at a custom crush center, a county report said.