Wine Industry managers defensive PD "...Defense of Grape Industry"

We have posted some of the online comments to the fictitious, defensive PD Close to Home "...Defense of Grape Industry" by wine industry managers, not "growers," in the Nov. 4 edition. You can read them at www.winewaterwatch.org.

I also just received the following letter to the PD editor from Donald Williams of Calistoga. I am including it, since it refutes the contention that it is merely we west county people who are objecting to the over-expansion of the wine industry as events centers in our rural areas. We do not oppose vineyards or wineries, unless they do unsustainable things, such as displace food agriculture, sprawl out into our rural places, damage the environment, underpay farmers, and hoard water.

In the interests of professional journalism, we hope the PD editors will allow someone to refute that fallacious Close to Home, thus adding some balance and objectivity to this debate.

You can read the offensive PD article at the following link. We hope you will consider making a comment.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/opinio...-growers-speak

Dear Editor,
Regarding Close to Home "Growers Speak Out in Defense of Grape Industry": The industry is under scrutiny because, like an intemperate drinker, it won't admit when it's had too much.

But if the alcohol industry would control its own---acknowledge how event-centers masquerading as wineries are an excessive indulgence and collectively destroy the rural quality of the north bay---it wouldn't have to play defense on questions about exploiting or respecting the landscape.

It's a matter of degree. When the indulgence affects too many other people; when local governments ignore their concerns and proceed with business as usual; when residents feel obliged to organize, protest, write letters, etc. about traffic and the loss of rural character---then the alcohol and tourism industry has taken a good thing too far.

Sincerely,
Donald Williams, Calistoga, CA

It's bad enough that we've devolved from an agriculture that use to benefit all to a mono-culture that now benefits a very few. That same minority continues to preach the family values that their forefathers built with their sweat and blood while at the same time obliterating those traditions by overdeveloping the land, ignoring responsible farming applications and completely dismissing the root communities that theirs families grew up in. If they could take their eyes off the cash register, they would see how truly wealthy they are.

from letters to The Press Democrat, 11/9:

Not sustainable
EDITOR: Duff Bevill and Kevin Barr’s Close to Home column (“Growers speak out in defense of grape industry,” Wednesday) claims that concerns about the wine industry’s water usage are coming from “a small group of west county residents.”
That is not what I observe. Many outraged west county citizens attended the state-sponsored meetings informing them to conserve water while wineries and vineyards were exempted. The column says that wineries have reduced water consumption, but anyone driving in rural areas can spot new vineyards recently planted during the drought — evidence that the wine industry continues to use more water for more vineyards.
Grape growers now use more wind machines to help lower water usage? This means that rural families will have yet more noise to disturb their lives. The wine industry follows “best practices?” This is cold comfort to families who see their wells go dry and deal with frequent noise and traffic disruptions caused by winery events.
The authors claim that Sonoma County’s wine industry will soon be 100 percent certified sustainable. Unfortunately, “sustainable” is currently one of the most abused words in the English language. It is used by groups such as the wine industry that hope to stifle citizen outrage regarding their operations.
CHRIS STOVER
Sebastopol

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Posted in reply to the post by eeeeeeow:

It's bad enough that we've devolved from an agriculture that use to benefit all to a mono-culture that now benefits a very few. That same minority continues to preach the family values that their forefathers built with their sweat and blood while at the same time obliterating those traditions by overdeveloping the land, ignoring responsible farming applications and completely dismissing the root communities that theirs families grew up in. If they could take their eyes off the cash register, they would see how truly wealthy they are.

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