About this episode

Kate Griffith discusses the implications of forced membership fees in California's wine industry and the federal lawsuit against Santa Barbara County.

California’s wine industry is already under pressure, and in Santa Barbara County, wineries now face another cost. Since April 2025, businesses that sell wine directly to customers have been required to pay a 1 percent fee on those sales. The fee funds a private trade association that wineries are also required to join, with no option under the current county rule to opt out of either the payment or the membership. Similar requirements have already taken hold in other California wine regions, and for some businesses, that has raised a bigger question about how far this kind of arrangement could reach. Flying Goat Cellars owners Kate Griffith and Norman Yost, along with Goldwater Institute attorney Adam Shelton, explain why their small Lompoc winery is now the plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against Santa Barbara County. Griffith says the outcome could matter well beyond wine, and Shelton lays out the legal argument behind the case. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.

People in this episode

Guest: Kate Griffith

Topics covered

• wine industry
• membership fees
• legal issues
• Santa Barbara County
• federal lawsuit
• trade association

Keywords

• California wine
• membership fees
• Santa Barbara County
• federal lawsuit
• trade association
• Flying Goat Cellars

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Flying Goat Cellars, Goldwater Institute

Places: California, Santa Barbara County

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