Rise of the "Lifestyle Vinters"

"Most refer to themselves with straight faces as 'farmers,' even as 'environmentalists,' while more trees are cut on surrounding mountainsides for yet more vineyards. They loudly praise the valley's exemplary past and glorious future while exploiting its present. For instance, a prominent computer-boom beneficiary named Mike Davis has spent more millions on his sprawling new winery than will likely ever be recovered through wine sales. Since the Napa Valley floor is all planted, only the hillsides are available for new vineyards. And Davis is bent on scraping out a vineyard high on Howell Mountain that would adversely affect a precious wildlife preserve, one of the state's most biologically rich remnants."

James Conaway at The Atlantic argues that "Rich People Are Ruining Wine."