Three Napa County wine businesses have filed a lawsuit against high-profile vintner Jayson Woodbridge, alleging that smoke from last year’s Pickett Fire ruined their 2025 harvests on Howell Mountain, a wine-growing area on Napa Valley’s east side. The plaintiffs, Outpost Wines, Laelius Winegrowing and Impensata Wines, filed the complaint in Napa County Superior Court, pointing to Woodbridge’s Calistoga-area property as the origin point of a blaze that scorched more than 10 square miles of the county.
The Pickett Fire erupted on the afternoon of August 21, 2025, on the outskirts of Calistoga and was aided by gusty winds as it tore through the region, according to The Press Democrat. The fire ultimately burned more than 6,800 acres, destroyed one home and four outbuildings, and forced evacuations from Calistoga through the Palisades and Swartz canyons to Pope Valley Road. More than 2,700 emergency personnel spent 17 days battling the flames before crews reached full containment.
Attorney Daniel Reidy, who represents the plaintiffs and is based in St. Helena, filed the suit against Woodbridge and his company, Hundred Acre Wines. The complaint identifies 2343 Pickett Road — an address that lies within adjoining properties owned by Woodbridge — as the location CAL FIRE identified as the fire’s starting point. Early CAL FIRE dispatch traffic referenced a vegetation fire and a possible escaped control burn, the same dispatch communications cited in the complaint alongside public reports about the fire’s starting location and possible causes.
Smoke Taint Versus Direct Flame Damage
The lawsuit alleges that Napa County wine-growing residents have a duty to take precautions against causing or spreading fires. Impensata Wines purchases grapes from Laelius Winegrowing’s 15-acre Howell Mountain vineyard, and the plaintiffs say the smoke-affected vines had only recently reached maturity after being replanted following the 2020 Glass Fire — a detail that sharpens the financial sting for growers who had waited years for those vines to produce again…