Overview
- Flying Goat Cellars filed a federal lawsuit in May in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California seeking the right to opt out of the county’s Wine Business Improvement District and to stop paying the 1% assessment.
- The complaint argues the ordinance violates the First and Fifth Amendments by compelling wineries to fund and join the Santa Barbara County Vintners Association, citing Supreme Court precedents used in similar compelled‑speech and association cases.
- The Wine Business Improvement District was created in 2025 and requires a 1% Direct‑To‑Consumer sales assessment collected from tasting rooms, wine clubs, events, food and merchandise to fund regional marketing administered by the Vintners Association.
- Flying Goat’s lawyers say they sent a February demand asking for a voluntary membership or an opt‑out and received no reply before filing suit, and the county is declining to comment on pending litigation.
- About 50 wineries have reportedly withheld payments, producing an estimated $1 million shortfall for the association’s marketing budget and raising questions about how local governments can lawfully structure mandatory industry assessments.