California: Protesters demonstrate against Sebastopol winery

(PressDemocrat) - A group of about 50 protesters angry at what they say is an environmentally damaging vineyard conversion project demonstrated in front of Paul Hobbs Winery in Sebastopol on Monday.

Known as the Apple Roots Group, its members want the permit revoked for Hobbs’ Watertrough Road property, where work began last month to convert the 48-acre apple orchard into a vineyard.

A week later, the county shut down the project because workers illegally removed creek-side vegetation and failed to prevent erosion.

Hobbs, who was recently called the “Steve Jobs of wine” by Forbes magazine, has become an easy target for west Sonoma County protesters who worry that large-scale grape growing threatens organic agriculture.

“We are not against the wine industry, we are against his particularly toxic practices,” said Shepherd Bliss, an organizer. “He’s greedy. All he wants to do is extract money from the ground.”

Protesters also say the project, next to two schools, will churn up pesticide-laden dust and harm children.

Tara Sharp, spokeswoman for Paul Hobbs Winery, declined to comment on the protest citing the frequency of such actions. There have been at least three protests at the winery in the past month.

Protesters chanted slogans, held signs that said things like “Stop orchard conversion,” and danced to the music of the Hubbub Club, an eccentric Graton-based marching band.