A new report from City Journal alleges that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wine business, based in Napa County, has relied on undocumented labor through a vineyard management contractor, raising questions about the overlap between his private financial interests and his record on immigration policy.
The report, written by Christopher Rufo, Ryan Thorpe, and Kenneth Schrupp, focuses on Newsom’s PlumpJack Collection of Wineries and the Oso Vineyard, which PlumpJack purchased in 2022. Newsom still holds a financial stake in PlumpJack. Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, reported at least $11 million in income between 2019 and 2024, the report says, with most of it tied to his interests in wineries and restaurants.
Citing court documents, labor reports, and interviews with people in California’s wine industry, the authors write that Newsom’s business has contracted a vineyard management company with what they describe as a long history of employing undocumented workers.
Industry sources cited in the report put the share of undocumented workers in Napa’s vineyards well above commonly cited estimates. One vineyard management company owner, who spoke to City Journal anonymously, estimated the figure at around 80 percent.
“I think it’s 80 percent,” the source said. “If you’re legal, you have your Green Card, you have your driver’s license and all these things, you don’t want to be working in the vineyards.”
A second industry source gave City Journal a similar estimate of about 80 percent, and said the management company contracted by Newsom’s business is aware it employs undocumented workers, according to the report.
The report also points to Newsom’s policy record on immigration, noting that in February he directed $35 million in state funds toward legal services for undocumented immigrants facing deportation proceedings.
Breitbart News, which first reported on the City Journal findings, frames the allegations as evidence that Newsom has a financial stake in policies that support undocumented labor in the wine industry he profits from. Newsom’s office has not issued a public response to the specific claims in the report as of this writing.
