When Gov. Gavin Newsom hit the brakes on reopening with a July 1, 2020 rollback that stopped indoor service at restaurants, tasting rooms and other venues in 19 counties, many Central Valley wineries suddenly had to kick guests back outside. At the same time, a tasting room in Napa tied to the governor’s PlumpJack business network kept pouring indoors. The split, rooted in county-by-county health metrics, quickly raised eyebrows among Valley owners who felt the rules landed hardest on smaller wineries and looked anything but even.
State Shuts Indoor Operations In 19 Counties
The rollback covered indoor dining along with winery tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums and cardrooms in counties flagged for worsening virus trends. The Los Angeles Times reported that state officials cited rising hospitalizations and broader community spread in 19 counties and said the new limits were expected to remain in place for at least three weeks while they revisited reopening benchmarks ahead of the July 4 weekend.
Newsom’s Financial Ties To PlumpJack
Newsom’s link to the PlumpJack hospitality group, which spans wineries, restaurants and wine shops, has long been on the public record. CalMatters noted that the governor and his wife reported substantial income from PlumpJack-related entities on their 2018 tax returns, a disclosure critics pointed to as the state tightened pandemic restrictions.
Case Counts, Thresholds And The Optics
Behind the uneven map of closures were sharply different local case numbers. Central Valley counties placed on the state’s monitoring list were dealing with significantly higher caseloads and test positivity rates than Napa, which was not initially ordered to shut down indoor spaces. KMPH reported that Fresno County had thousands of confirmed infections as of July 1, 2020, while Napa’s case count remained far lower, and noted that the administration leaned on metrics such as positive-test rates and hospitalizations to decide where indoor activities had to move outside or close altogether.
Wine Country Reaction
In Napa, industry representatives stressed that most tasting rooms had already ramped up outdoor service and were operating under strict safety rules. Further south and east, operators in the Central Valley described the rollback as a serious financial hit. Decanter quoted winery leaders who said patio and garden appointments helped cushion the blow but could not fully make up for lost direct-to-consumer sales, especially for smaller producers that depend heavily on visitors walking through the door.
Legal And Ethics Questions…