Bacchus, don’t attack us

Some pretty amazing things have been happening over at Healdsburg’s Hop Kiln Winery on Westside Road. It’s the kind of stuff that may give us a clearer picture of where Wine Country is headed.
For instance, two old buildings that had been standing for decades and were part of the Sweetwater Springs Historic District, where Hop Kiln is located, were reported to have blown down in a storm one windy day.
So the new owners, Westside Grapes LLC, did the right thing. They quietly demolished what remained of the historic structures and replaced them with a couple of modern mobile units needed for offices.
Then came the helicopter rides. For awhile last year wine lovers could hop aboard a chopper in Santa Rosa and fly over Wine Country to Hop Kiln for a picnic. Why hadn’t anyone thought of that before? Everyone knows Westside Road is growing crowded with traffic and limousines full of clueless strangers wearing bonnets and prom gowns — why not rise above all that?
Hop Kiln’s new owners, Westside Grapes LLC, bought the vineyard, winery and landmark hop kiln building from Marty Griffin a few years ago and since then Westside Grapes CEO David Di Loreto has been trying to brighten the old place up.
The centerpiece of Hop Kiln’s expansion is an entertainment and event center where live rock bands could dazzle audiences who expect more from a winery than just a sip of zinfandel.
Food and wine was fine in its day, but that was so five minutes ago. What about noise and wine? What about a good pinot noir and some heavy metal? What about some Guns ‘N Roses with your chardonnay?
“It’s about a changing world,” Di Loreto told the Sonoma County Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA) last week at a hearing regarding his plans to expand his winery into the kind of exciting destination Di Loreto sees as needed and vital in today’s modern wine universe.
Wine is no longer just something to drink. It is an adventure, like going to a ball game or the opera. It has to be entertaining and amuse an increasingly discerning international clientele of high-end wine seekers arriving in limousines and expecting to be fussed over like royalty.
What’s happening at Hop Kiln, said a winery worker at last week’s hearing, is “making wine an experience, not just a beverage.”
What his detractors have yet to grasp, Di Loreto explained last week to the BZA, and a roomful of his winery’s alarmed neighbors, is that he’s simply employing savvy marketing strategies needed to compete in today’s “ever-growing global wine market.”
Maybe so, but there was a sense in the packed county hearing room last week that we were witnessing an almost criminal defilement of the spirit of Westside Road, probably one of the most scenic rural landscapes on the planet. Even Di Loreto’s closest neighbors, the prominent Rochioli family, have been alarmed at the prospect of Hop Kiln hosting year-round “bands, weddings and parties,” said the Rochiolis.
“We firmly believe in property rights and that property owners should be able to utilize their property as they choose,” the Rochiolis said in a protest letter, “but the proposed project goes way too far.”
“The right to farm,” said another Hop Kiln neighbor, “is not the right to party.”
I’m sure David Di Loreto disagrees, as do many of his fellow winegrowers. Unfortunately for Hop Kiln, none of this tearing down of old buildings and adding new offices was done with required public review including county building permits.
And why not? That’s what BZA member Jason Liles wanted to know.
“I had not been told,” about county permit requirements, said Di Loreto. “I was not aware.”
“You didn’t know and your staff didn’t know?” said Liles. “Who’s in charge over there?”
That’s still unclear, and not just at Hop Kiln. It sounds like it might be a good question to ask the rest of Wine Country too.