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Winery did itself no favors I Recordnet.com Page 2 of 2 <br /> The county sent out inspectors.The inspectors found an amphitheater had sprung up.A"bottle sterilization and <br /> wine lab"looked suspiciously like a kitchen. Especially since the winery was advertising cooking classes. <br /> County officials remonstrated with the Vierras to comply with the permit conditions. But, records say, St. Jorge <br /> continued to flout the law. <br /> The Vierras even resorted to subterfuge to keep the illegal events going, Sullivan said. <br /> County records include a document that says the Vierras billed one wedding as a meeting of the wine club. <br /> "It was as if we were supposed to believe both the bride and groom happened to be in the wine club and they <br /> happened to show up for the wine club wearing wedding clothes,"Sullivan said. "So you kind of see what we've <br /> been dealing with." <br /> When pressure mounted,the Vierras tried to go through proper channels and get approval for their expansion.The <br /> Planning Commission did OK it. Opponents appealed. <br /> By then, St. Jorge had become the poster child for wineries seeking to use a small-winery permit to develop event <br /> centers on farmland. <br /> That trend must be stopped if farming is to be preserved,wrote Bruce Fry, president of the San Joaquin County <br /> Farm Bureau Federation. <br /> "If this application is approved,the County will only solidify their position that not only can you seek forgiveness for <br /> your unpermitted projects, but you can be rewarded with allowing expansion of activities ..." Fry wrote. <br /> Ultimately, county officials agreed. The amphitheater must go. The county's wildest wine club must cease holding <br /> events, except for the four permitted.The kitchen can stay, but it must be used only for bottle sterilization and as a <br /> wine lab. <br /> What were the Vierras thinking?They did not return calls.A person who answered the phone at St. Jorge Winery <br /> said Verne Vierra was busy making wine. Under the circumstances,that is probably the smart thing to do. <br /> Contact columnist Michael Fitzgerald at(209)546-8270 or michaelf@recordnet.com.Visit his blog at <br /> recordnet.com/fitzgeraidblog. <br /> http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131011/A_NEWS0803/3101103... 10/11/2013 <br />