Civil Suit Filed Against Napa Winery Over Damages Caused By 2025 Pickett Fire

Dozens of plaintiffs, including other wineries, have filed suit against the owner of Hundred Acre Wines and a man who was employed there, seeking damages from the August 2025 wildfire that began on Hundred Acre's property. The fire began on August 21, 2025, near Pickett Road just outside the city limits of Calistoga, and within a day it had spread to over 2,000 acres. The fire ultimately scorched over 6,800 acres, much of it prized vineyard land, and the owners of damaged property are now seeking compensation. As an example, Hundred Acre, a Cabernet producer, sells its wine for around $700 per bottle. Early in the investigation, just days after the fire began, a story emerged about a new outdoor fireplace that had been built on the Hundred Acre Winery property. An independent contractor working there, Juan Luis Gutierrez Marfil, reportedly told investigators that he had disposed of some smoldering ashes in a burn pile, after dousing them with water . Marfil allegedly said that he had built a "basketball-sized" fire in order to "temper" or cure the new fireplace, and had then scooped the ashes into a bucket, dousing them and then tossing them on a burn pile. There were also reports that a wedding was scheduled to take place at the Hundred Acre property that weekend, in violation of a county ordinance against weddings on winery properties, and the wedding was relocated elsewhere when the Pickett Fire began. Marfil already faces a criminal charge of recklessly causing a fire of a structure and forest, which was filed in August. But now, winery owners whose property was damaged are seeking payouts. As the Chronicle reports , a group of plaintiffs that includes Robert Foley Vineyards, Jackson Family Wines, and Neal Family Vineyards, is suing for $90 million in agricultural property damage. The complaint, filed last week in Napa County Superior Court, names both Marfil and Hundred Acre Winery owner Jayson Woodbridge as defendants, and argues that Marfil's actions were "negligent, reckless and intentional." The suit further asserts that the disposal of the ashes "violated multiple statutes, regulations and Napa County ordinances, as well as basic common sense given the hot, dry and windy conditions" at the time. The complaint also adds that Woodbridge "knew, firsthand, the acute fire risk" in the area, after his property suffered damage in the 2020 Glass Fire . One winery owner, Gavin Newsom's family's PlumpJack Group, has already settled for an undisclosed sum with Hundred Acre over the loss of about half of its Oso Vineyard property. As the story about the fire's cause emerged last summer, Hundred Acre hired local PR consultant Sam Singer, who this week tells the Chronicle that they plan to "vigorously challenge" the civil suit, adding, "We will not be pressured into paying claims we believe lack merit." The Glass Fire, which burned in a similar area to the Pickett Fire before jumping over into Sonoma County, was exponentially more destructive in terms of property damage. A similar blame game began in 2020 following that fire, after it became clear it had not been sparked by any PG&E equipment, though Cal Fire investigators later said that the cause of the fire was inconclusive. Related: Winery That Figures Into Pickett Fire Investigation Says Worker Doused Fireplace Ashes With Water