Napa Valley Nabbing Wine Drinkers?

Filed in archive California Wines on September 10, 2006

In the states these days law enforcement has really taken a zero tolerance to drinking and driving, which of course, is understandable. Wine tasting is fun, but I'm always really careful when I do something like this away from home.

So, I was kind of surprised that there wouldn't be more issues with drinking and driving in areas like Napa Valley which has all kinds of vineyards and wine tasting rooms available to the public.

From The Napa Valley Register:

From Dec. 2004 to Dec. 2005, Napa courts convicted 1,066 individuals of DUI or what criminal court attorneys call "wet reckless" charges, according to Napa County Superior Court records.

Of those convicted, a solid majority - 70 percent, or 744 drivers - were locals. Another 322 - or 30 percent - were not from Napa County.

Among the out-of-towners, 152 people, or about 14 percent of the total convicted, live in neighboring Solano, Sonoma or Lake counties. The remaining 170 people, 16 percent of the total, were from remote counties, other states or other countries.

Does wine-related tourism boost the number of DUIs in Napa County? Not significantly, according to law enforcement officials and others looking at this issue. Their views are corroborated by some law enforcement officials from neighboring counties.

California Highway Patrol Officer Jerry Rico said he doesn't believe Napa's wine country fame significantly increases the number of tourist-related DUI arrests in Napa County.

"We get our share" of wine-related arrests, he said, "but one thing about Napa is that (wineries) charge to taste."

Free alcohol would encourage more reckless behavior, he said. Meanwhile, people who pay $10 or $15 per person for a modest amount of wine are less likely to overindulge.