NAPA VALLEY, CA — Dozens of wine entities are suing vintner Jayson Woodbridge over smoke damage from the Pickett Fire, adding a civil lawsuit to the criminal prosecution of a contractor accused of starting the blaze.
Napa wineries and growers say smoke from the Pickett Fire spoiled their harvest. Their lawsuit targets Hundred Acre founder Jayson Woodbridge, a contractor, and five affiliated companies.
The fire erupted Aug. 21, 2025, near Calistoga, burned 6,820 acres, destroyed a residence, forced evacuations, and tainted wine grapes.
The plaintiffs filed the complaint Nov. 5 in Napa County Superior Court.
The list of plaintiffs span an array of wine businesses, including an international wine company, established Napa Valley producers, and a specialty wine merchant.
The group is seeking compensation for losses plaintiffs say they suffered when smoke from the Pickett Fire tainted their grapes and spoiled their 2025 harvest.
The list includes Robert Foley Vineyards, Jackson Family Wines, Neal Family Vineyards, Haber Family Vineyards, Black Sears Estate Wines, and K. Laz Wine Collection among the plaintiffs. Gerald Blaine Singleton serves as their lead attorney.
The defendants include Woodbridge, contractor Juan Luis Gutierrez Marfil, and five Woodbridge-affiliated companies.
Investigators initially examined whether smoldering ashes discarded by Marfil, a contractor, at a Hundred Acre vineyard ignited the fire.
Marfil, 45, pleaded not guilty Sept. 9 to a felony charge of recklessly causing a fire of a structure or forest. Napa County prosecutors also alleged that the offense caused losses exceeding $6 million. His next hearing is Dec. 7.
Sam Singer, a spokesman for the winery, Singer said in August 2025 that Marfil believed the ashes had been extinguished and that Hundred Acre was cooperating with investigators.
The plaintiffs negotiated with Hundred Acre Wines before filing the Nov. 5 lawsuit. PlumpJack Group, which California Gov. Gavin Newsom co-founded, reached a settlement with Woodbridge for an undisclosed amount, the San Francisco Chronicle first reported.
The fire destroyed 60 of Oso Vineyard's 129 acres of vines in Pope Valley, PlumpJack managing director John Conover previously told the Chronicle.
Singer said PlumpJack was the only grower that lost significant vineyard acreage to the flames, according to reports. Grapes elsewhere ripened fully, but growers allege that smoke spoiled their crops.
Grapes can absorb compounds from wildfire smoke that release during fermentation and leave unpleasant flavors in finished wine.
Tests of grapes and juice affected by the Pickett Fire detected chemical markers consistent with smoke taint, according to the complaint.
Plaintiffs who fermented trial batches reported that the resulting wines tasted unpleasant and ashy, according to the complaint.
Singer vehemently denied that assessment, according to the Press Democrat. "There was little to no smoke damage, from the material they provided us," he said. "If this fire had been before 2020, before the downturn of the wine industry, each of those vintners would have used those grapes to make wine," he told reporters.
Napa County Agricultural Commissioner Trace Cleveland initially estimated agricultural losses at $65 million, primarily involving wine grapes and beehives.
The fire broke out during preparations for a wedding involving the daughter of an early Hundred Acre employee.
Singer said workers had been working on a fireplace and that a contractor placed ashes in a bucket, soaked them with water, and discarded them.
He described the wedding as a family gathering that did not require a county permit.
Napa County supervisors declared an emergency Aug. 24, 2025. Calistoga's City Council subsequently declared a health emergency as crews battled the blaze.
The criminal prosecution and civil litigation are separate.
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