California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ties to the wine industry are drawing renewed scrutiny after a winery group he co-founded emerged as the only Napa Valley operation known to have secured a settlement tied to a destructive wildfire that battered wine country.
Wineries across Napa Valley have been working to recover from the 2025 Pickett Fire, a blaze blamed for an estimated $56 million in winegrape losses throughout one of California’s most valuable wine regions.
More than 30 winery and vineyard owners are pursuing as much as $90 million from Hundred Acre Winery and its owner, Jayson Woodbridge. Yet to date, Newsom’s PlumpJack Group appears to be the only party to have reached a settlement.
Newsom co-founded PlumpJack, a wine and hospitality business that grew with help from his longstanding connections to California’s prominent Getty family.
The settlement revelation comes as prosecutors filed criminal charges Thursday against Juan Luis Gutierrez Marfil, an independent contractor for Hundred Acre Winery, who is accused of igniting the Pickett Fire.
According to the criminal complaint, Marfil “admitted to Cal Fire Law Enforcement of the disposing of hot ashes into a burn pile, which caused the Pickett Fire.”
The fire inflicted heavy damage on wineries and vineyards, with many losses linked to smoke taint — a condition that occurs when wildfire smoke seeps into grapes and compromises the wine made from them.
While many other winery owners remain locked in disputes with Hundred Acre, PlumpJack has already reached an agreement for an undisclosed sum.
About 60 acres of PlumpJack’s Oso Vineyard burned, with many of its grapes also suffering smoke taint.
The settlement has left other Napa growers still fighting to recover millions in losses.
“We are grateful to put this matter behind us,” the PlumpJack Group said in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle. “As the only vineyard involved in this case to experience burn damage, we were not surprised to be among the first to reach a resolution.”
That, however, left some other vineyard owners suspicious and furious, as they wondered whether the connection to Newsom helped Plumpjack with getting its payout.
“I don’t know what connections or motivations the defendant would have,” John Cadieux, an attorney with a firm representing the 30 wineries and vineyards, told the Chronicle. “But certainly I’d imagine (Newsom’s connection) played a part.”
PlumpJack denied “any speculation that Newsom was involved in the settlement process” and noted the governor put his stake into a blind trust, where he and the governor’s office has no oversight.
Wine companies seeking money from Hundred Acres said they fear Woodbridge’s insurance will not be able to cover the whole cost of damages. Three companies sued after failing to reach a settlement.
A spokesperson for Woodbridge told the Chronicle that settlements couldn’t be reached because companies “didn’t provide sufficient data to us that, in our opinion, would demonstrate a valid claim of damage.”
An attorney for a plaintiff insisted sufficient evidence was provided.
“That is the type of nonsense everyone faced before our clients chose to file this lawsuit and let a court decide,” attorney Daniel Reidy said.
Ultimately, winery owners are slowly growing more pessimistic that they’ll get the same result that Plumpjack did.
“It is seriously looking like no one will be made whole,” Heather Griffin, co-owner of Summit Lake Vineyards, told the Chronicle. “We are all massively devastated financially from this fire.”
Randy Dunn, co-founder of Howell Mountain’s Dunn Vineyards, said to the Chronicle he has lowered his expectations.
“Our initial claim was $8 million,” he said. “I’ll be surprised if we get $8,000.”
