Guy Fieri's Sonoma Winery Flames Out, Just Like His Shirts

Santa Rosa's vineyards will not become an outpost of Flavortown anytime soon, as the Sonoma County Board of Zoning Adjustments has unanimously scuttled human game of Slap the Bag Guy Fieri's plans to open a winery and tasting room there. As the Press-Democrat reports, nearly 150 people opposed to the project attended last night's board meeting, many of them tying symbolic blue ribbons to their arm carrying signs that said "Keep Willowside Safe and Quiet, No Guy Fieri." The residents' objections to Fieri's winery were less about aesthetics and more about sound, with many expressing concern about noise and traffic along the two-lane road where Fieri hoped to open up shop. 30 people spoke at the meeting, all of them in opposition, and zoning board member Willie Lambertson told the Press-Democrat he had received a petition against the winery with over 200 signatures, not to mention numerous letters.

Fieri had planned to name his winery Hunt-Ryd, after his two sons, Hunter and Ryder. He's owned a five-acre organic pinot noir vineyard in the Russian River Valley since 2012, from which he'd hoped to produce 10,000 cases per year. Initial plans for the Willowside Road tasting room called for raised garden beds and an Italian-style piazza, as well as 14 annual events for which Fieri-heads could trot out their very best Ed Hardy shirts, and open tasting hours on weekends. In the wake of the zoning smackdown, his lawyer says they'll be discussing an appeal to the Board of Supervisors, saying this kind of verdict is rare. An official told the Press-Democrat that in the past two years, "we haven't had a unanimous vote denying a use permit for a winery," so Fieri may yet be able to have visitors come try out his Super-Kickin' Power Punch Pinot, or whatever else he decides to call it. In the meantime, Guy's army can content themselves with the "kraft kocktails" at the Santa Rosa outposts of his Johnny Garlic's and Tex Wasabi's chains.