Exclusive | Furious Napa Valley vineyards facing oblivion as crucifying new fees drop: Can see where this ends

California’s Napa Valley is fermenting into a full-blown revolt as furious vineyard owners warn a new fee could leave them paying tens of thousands of dollars a year — the latest financial punch threatening to crush the struggling wine industry.Farmers across the iconic Northern California enclave say they are staring down financial disaster as the state moves to crucify them for their use of groundwater.Under a new law coming into effect later this summer, wineries will have to pay just under $99 per acre per year on land they irrigate as part of Gov.Gavin Newsom’s sustainable water initiative.It comes as the region, once famed across the world for its wine, is already in crisis mode over plummeting profits, fewer tourists, changing drinking habits and wildfires wiping out farmland.Beckstoffer Vineyards, one of Napa Valley’s largest and most respected grape growers, estimates the new fee will cost the company about $25,000 a year for its 12,000 acres in the Napa region.“Right now we’re looking at these extra costs at a time where all of our clients are asking for price reductions and less fruit due to the downturn in the market,” General Manager Jim Lincoln told The California Post.His company supplies grapes to about 120 wineries producing Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.“We’re not making a profit right now.

Labor’s going up and every client that we have has asked us for a price cut.Costs are going up, prices are going down… see where this ends,” he said.The new fees stem from California’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which requires local agencies to develop long-term plans to protect groundwater supplies.Earlier this month it was announced the county would charge farmers $98.74 per planted acre, while homeowners with private wells will pay $62.58 per parcel.

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