Former US ambassador, ex-Warriors general counsel: Here are the 15 people named in federal subpoena of Napa County

A federal subpoena seeking information and documents in connection with a grand jury investigation into Napa County reads like a who’s who of local luminaries, including vintners, developers, and business people.

Some of the 15 people named have reached the pinnacle of American business and influence. They include a former U.S. ambassador, a former co-owner of the Dallas Cowboys and a former general counsel to the Golden State Warriors.

The subpoenas, obtained by The Press Democrat on Friday, show investigators are seeking information and documents in connection with a controversial Napa County land deal involving the family of Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza. Other tentacles of the investigation reach into the county airport’s redevelopment and the county’s waste management services.

One of the subpoenas asks for documents from 25 companies and 15 individuals dating to Jan. 1, 2016, though it doesn’t identify what investigators are looking for.

While information is being requested through a subpoena, it does not mean the individuals or corporations named are suspected of or being charged with a crime.

The FBI requested documents from the county related to the following people. Information about them was gleaned from public records, news and feature articles and online profiles, including their company websites. The Press Democrat has reached out to all 15 individuals or their companies for comment, but none responded as of Tuesday.

James Peter Read

Partner of Read Investments, specializing in commercial real estate acquisitions and development. He is the former co-owner of Grocery Outlet Inc., a family-owned retail grocery business with 140 stores throughout the Western U.S.

Incorporation documents show Circle R Ranch LLC and Foss Valley Ranch LLC, both also named in the subpoena, were incorporated at an address for Read’s investment company in Berkeley.

George Altamura Sr.

Prominent local real estate developer and owner or former owner of many noteworthy properties across Napa County, including the popular Uptown Theatre, which he sold in 2022 to JaM Cellers.

Altamura, whose family also operates Altamura Vineyards and Winery in Napa, has been part of the local wine, entertainment and real estate worlds for decades.

Among many other ventures, he restored Uptown Theatre, which opened in 1937, to its original art-deco decor, then made it a live entertainment venue in 2010.

George Altamura Jr.

Partner in the Napa family business founded more than 50 years ago by his father, George Altamura Sr. Altamura Enterprises, their real estate development company, is also named in the subpoena.

His own eponymous LLC is also listed in the subpoena.

Craig Hall

Billionaire chairman and founder of Dallas-based Hall Financial Group and proprietor of Hall Wines in St. Helena, which was named in the subpoena.

A lifelong entrepreneur and investor, he’s been involved in real estate, venture capitalism, technology and hotels in the U.S. and Europe. Hall is the author of five books, including, “Timing the Real Estate Market: The Secrets to Buying Low and Selling High.”

He co-owned the Dallas Cowboys and helped grow Sports Illustrated Court Club, a network of health and sports clubs.

He and his wife, Kathryn Hall, funded the Fulbright-Kathryn and Craig Hall Distinguished Chair for Entrepreneurship to teach entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe.

Kathryn Hall

Proprietor of Hall Wines in St. Helena and Walt Wines in Sonoma. She has had a career in business, law, community activism and was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Austria by President Bill Clinton in 1997. She served until 2001.

Hall co-managed her family’s vineyard from 1982 to 1992. She began her public career as assistant city attorney in Berkeley. Later, she joined Safeway Stores, where she developed and administered one of the nation’s first and largest affirmative action programs. She then worked as an attorney and businesswoman in Dallas.

She co-founded the North Texas Food Bank, served on the U.S. House of Representatives Hunger Advisory Committee, and was the director and vice president of the Texas Mental Health Association. She served on the National Advisory Council for Violence Against Women and as a trustee of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

She was appointed to the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Technical Advisory Committee for international trade and to Texas One, promoting international investment in Texas.

She and her husband, Craig Hall, were behind Hall Brambletree Associates Ltd., which was named in the subpoena. That was the entity that spearheaded the controversial failed Walt Ranch vineyard project.

Esteban Llamas

Vineyard manager of Napa’s 600-acre Stagecoach Vineyards. He is the father-in-law of Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza.

His life as a vineyard worker began in 1974 and he rose through the ranks in the field and barrel room to become vineyard manager at Robert Keenan Winery and Atlas Peak before joining Stagecoach in 1996.

Llamas was listed as manager of Vinedos AP LLC, which was also named in the subpoena and was the company responsible for completing an Atlas Peak land deal next to Walt Ranch.

Pedroza has said he was a member of the LLC in 2021, but left before a controversial December 2021 vote on Walt Ranch.

Charles J. “Chuck” Wagner

Started Caymus Vineyards in Rutherford with his late parents, Charlie Sr. and Lorna, at age 19.

Ten years later, in 1982, the Wagners opened Caymus-Suisun in Solano County about 30 minutes southeast of Napa County.

Wagner continues to oversee the family’s portfolio, Wagner Family of Wines. Caymus Vineyards and Caymus-Suisun Winery were both named in the subpoena.

Charles F. “Charlie” Wagner

Owner and winemaker of Mer Soleil winery in Monterey County, which is also named in the subpoena. He is the son of Charles J. Wagner, co-founder of Caymus Vineyards and head of Wagner Family of Wines.

Terrence McGrath

A Bay Area commercial real estate broker and founder of several firms, including Comcore Commercial Real Estate, Aegis Realty Partners and Aegis Equity Partners, later renamed McGrath Properties — which is also named in the subpoena.

McGrath Properties, based in Oakland, has acquired over 1 million square feet of buildings and sizable land holdings, including office buildings, parking facilities, and industrial and manufacturing plants in Northern California.

One of the firm’s properties is the Watson Ranch development in American Canyon, set to bring over 1,200 housing units, a three-story hotel, parks, commercial space and more to a 309-acre site on the city’s northeastern end.

American Canyon 1 LLC — the entity considered the developer of Watson Ranch, under McGrath’s purview — was also named in the subpoena.

Jayson Woodbridge

A former investment banker who founded St. Helena’s Hundred Acre Wine Group, which is also named in the subpoena. The company is known for producing some of the highest-scoring wines in the world.

Woodbridge owns and operates various vineyards, including Morgan’s Way Vineyard in St. Helena, Ark Vineyard outside St. Helena, and Few and Far Between Vineyard outside Calistoga.

He filed a lawsuit against Napa County in September 2023 alleging the county planning department overstepped state and federal laws when denying water well permits at four of his vineyards.

Grant Long Jr.

Winemaker and proprietor of St. Helena wineries Aonair and Reverie II, which are also named in the subpoena.

Darioush Khaledi

Co-founded Darioush Winery — which is also named in the subpoena — in Napa in 1998. He was trained as a civil engineer and is a lifelong entrepreneur.

Khaledi emigrated from Iran to the U.S. and in 1977 founded K.V. Mart Co., which at its height was a chain of 41 grocery stores that catered to low- to medium-income shoppers. It became the largest family-owned grocery business in California at the time.

He has since divested himself from his interest in K.V. Mart Co., which is headquartered in Long Beach and still operates locations around Los Angeles, including Amar Ranch Market, Buy Low Markets, Top Valu Markets and Valu Mart Food Warehouse.

Robin Baggett

Sole managing partner of Alpha Omega Winery in St. Helena, which is named in the subpoena.

Baggett moved to Napa Valley in 2006 to found the winery. He began his wine career in 1988 as a grower, planting more than 750 acres of grapes and in 1998 establishing Tolosa winery in San Luis Obispo.

Alpha Omega, along with Perinet winery in Spain’s small wine region Priorat, form the Alpha Omega Collective.

In 1998, he was inducted into the Cal Poly Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 2001, Cal Poly’s new baseball stadium in San Luis Obispo was named after him.

He spent eight years of his career as general counsel to the the Golden State Warriors.

David “Dave” Phinney

Behind cult wine The Prisoner, which was sold to Constellation Brands in 2016 for $285 million.

He sold the Orin Swift Cellars brand to wine powerhouse E. & J. Gallo Winery the same year for $300 million. And, in 2018, he sold his Locations brand to Gallo for an undisclosed sum. He founded the Savage & Cooke distillery on the former Mare Island Naval base in Vallejo.

For years he had planned to develop Bloodlines Vineyards, which is also named in the subpoena, on 70 acres of his 278.4-acre property on Soda Canyon Road, northeast of Napa and east of Stagecoach Vineyard.

An environmental impact report dated Dec. 4, 2019, found the new vineyard would not have significant effect on the environment. Despite this, Phinney sold the property in May 2023 for $3.25 million.

The property was listed again about 45 days later for $20,995,00. But the listing was removed Jan. 1, according to real estate records.

Glenn Salva

Manager of the Antinori family’s Napa Valley wine estate, which includes Antica Napa Valley.

Salva is responsible for all winegrowing activities for Antica, which is also named in the subpoena.

The Antinori family of Florence, Italy, has been making wine for over 600 years and in the 1980s became the first Italian family to open a vineyard in Napa Valley.