T.J. Rodgers has just reaped his first crop on his vineyard in La Honda, but he still doesn’t have permission to build the winery he needs to produce what he promises will be “the best pinot noir on the planet”, according to the Mercury News.
His neighbors and the County are still struggling with the implications of his project. He didn’t win any friends by neglecting to get county approval before dynamiting the hills to create three enormous wine caves. And he wants to make five times more wine than the county allows.
The story has plenty of detail about Rodgers’ spectacular plans.
UPDATE: Check the “comments” link below the headline for more information from a La Honda resident about why this project is so unpopular among Rodgers’ neighbors.
While it is good to see this story get some press, it failed to explain the main concern of La Honda residents - to reach his production goals, Rodgers plans to plant slopes that are within the watershed from which we collect our drinking water. There are three concerns: agrichemical contamination of our surface water, increased siltation, and reduction of spring water that feeds this watershed. La Honda residents want assurance that none of these three things will happen as a result of the project.
At an early presentation of the project to members of the community, Rodgers described an organic winery with very limited production. This small, organic project did not appear to present a problem. The project has changed dramatically since then. The organic production plans have been dropped and the production goals have increased several fold, requiring much more acreage to be planted, and much more water to be used.
David Ehrhardt La Honda resident