FBI launches investigation into Napa Valley’s most famous wineries and subpoenas documents relating to 40 high-profile individuals including former Dallas Cowboys owner and onetime US ambassador to Austria
The FBI has launched an investigation into Napa Valley’s most famous wineries and has subpoenaed documents related to 40 high-profile individuals.
Billionaire and former co-owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Craig Hall and his wife Kathryn Walt Hall, the former U.S. ambassador to Austria, were among those named in the legal documents, along with their winery, Hall Hundred Acre.
Other people named in the documents included Dave Phinney, the entrepreneur who founded the Prisoner wine brand, and Chuck Wagner, the owner of Caymus Vineyards.
The reason for the investigation is still unknown, but many of the vintners and wineries named in the subpoena have direct ties to Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Pedroza has long been embroiled in land controversy, and while he is not listed or charged, the subpoenas include the names of people and companies who completed the land deal with Atlas Peak, including the regulator’s father-in-law, the Napa Valley Registry reported.
The FBI has launched an investigation into Napa Valley’s most famous wineries and has subpoenaed documents related to 40 high-profile individuals. Pictured: Hall Hundred Acre Winery
Billionaire and former co-owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Craig Hall and his wife Kathryn Walt Hall, the former U.S. ambassador to Austria, were among those named in the legal documents, along with their winery, Hall Hundred Acre.
DailyMail.com reached out to the FBI for more information about the federal investigation but did not receive a response.
Responding to the investigation, Wagner told the San Francisco Chronicle that he was “damn crazy” that his name was on the list.
‘I’m stunned. It’s about the county, they can’t name names unless I did something wrong that I don’t know about,” Wagner added.
The subpoena ordered a county representative to appear before a federal grand jury in San Francisco on Wednesday with “all documents” relating to the named individuals.
Napa County Deputy Executive Communications Officer Holly Dawson said the county “knows nothing more than what is in the subpoena.”
Dawson added that the province will provide the requested documents and that no one is expected to testify.
Kathryn Hall said she knew there was an “ongoing investigation” but was not aware of the “extent or details” and that it would be “inappropriate for us to speculate.”
Kathryn and Craig own five certified organic wineries in Helena and Rutherford, Napa Valley. They have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Craig purchased an ownership stake in the Dallas Cowboys in 1984 and subsequently founded the Hall Group, a family of diverse businesses from wineries to financial buildings and the arts.
Kathryn served as the former U.S. Ambassador to Austria under then-President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001, before working as a lawyer.
According to the winery’s website, the couple are “lifelong art collectors” who enjoy sharing their love of art and wine with the world.
Chuck Wagner, the owner of Caymus Vineyard, was also named in the subpoena. ‘I’m stunned. It’s about the county, they can’t name names unless I did something wrong that I don’t know about,” Wagner said.
Wagner, Phinney and Hall are all top donors to Pedroza, who have donated large sums to the regulator’s campaigns. It is unclear whether this is related to the investigation
Pedroza was embroiled in a messy land battle involving the Walt Ranch, a piece of land that was to become a vineyard, but the plan collapsed last year.
The Hall’s purchased the Walt Ranch in 2005 for $8 million with similar plans to build a vineyard.
In 2022, a resident, Beth Nelson, discovered that Pedroza’s father-in-law had acquired an interest in a property near Walt Ranch. Pedroza voted for the ranch, but did not reveal his father’s commitment.
Others have claimed that Pedroza and his family could have benefited financially from the vineyard and feared that its placement would increase the prices of nearby properties.
His father-in-law, Esteban Llamas, is listed on the subpoena, along with Vinedos AP, LLC, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Pedroza, who is not named in the subpoenas, told the Napa Valley Register, “I encourage the county, as always, to cooperate fully with all other branches of federal and state government.”
“There’s no reason to do otherwise here,” he added.
Grant Long, the owner of Revierie and Aonair in Helena, California, was also named in the subpoena and said the news came “as a pretty big surprise” to him.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Wagner, Phinney and Hall are all top donors to Pedroza, having donated large sums of money to the supervisor’s campaigns. It is unclear whether this is related to the investigation.
The documents requested in the subpoena include permits, plans, contracts and correspondence dating back to Jan. 1, 2016, the year Pedroza was first elected to the Napa County Board of Supervisors.
Other business owners such as James Peter Read, who previously owned the Grocery Outlet, and three of his other businesses were listed in the subpoenas.
Records showed that Read’s Circle R. Ranch, LLC also donated at least $9,900 to Pedroza’s campaigns.
The current federal summons is one of three the wine country has recently received, records show.
The Napa Valley Register reported that the county was subpoenaed for documents related to waste management services and the new Napa County Airport development.