Pahrump Valley Winery in Pahrump, Nevada

On our first visit to Nevada, we wanted to add winery visits to our itinerary. For us it is hard to plan vacations without also adding winery visits. It’s almost but not quite an obsession to discover, visit and write about wineries. It’s also a lot of work with the planning, concentrating on the winery facts while visiting, and writing in the evenings or early morning.

So for our first visit to Las Vegas, we tried to locate local wineries and the closest winery was about an hour from Las Vegas in the town of Pahrump. After spending some time in Las Vegas, we found it very relaxing to drive through the dry landscape away from the lights and sounds of a big city. We discovered Pahrump Valley Winery that also has a wonderful upscale restaurant, Symphony’s, adjacent to it. We enjoyed the visit and a wonderful lunch.

On a return trip to Las Vegas, again there were no wineries to visit. Deciding to make a return visit to Pahrump Valley, we discovered a second winery had opened in Pahrump, Sanders Family Winery.

Why are there no wineries in or close to Las Vegas? One needs to look at Nevada’s law regarding wineries.

The Nevada law begins:

“NRS597.240 Operation of winery authorized in smaller counties.

1. A winery located in a county whose population is 100,000 or less, if it is federally bonded, may:

(a) Import wine or juice from a bonded winery in another state, to be fermented into wine or, if already fermented, to be mixed with other wine or aged in a suitable cellar, or both.

Sell at retail or serve by the glass, on its premises and at one other location, wine produced, blended or aged by the winery. The amount of wine sold at a location other than on the premises of the winery may not exceed 50 percent of the total volume of the wine sold by the winery.

(c) Serve by the glass, on its premises, any alcoholic beverage.

It is the first sentence that stops people from starting a winery closer to Las Vegas. Located in Clark County, Las Vegas has approximately 375,000 residents and the county has about 2 million people. Washoe County has an estimated population of about 350,000 residents. Based on the above law, people in these two counties cannot establish a commercial winery on their property.

The Nevada Wine Coalition was formed to try to remedy this situation. According to the coalition website,  “Our mission is to build support for legislation to remove the population limitation (NRS 597.240) that restricts wine production in Washoe and Clark Counties so that we can open wineries that will create a thriving industry statewide to create jobs and grow our economy.”

On July 27 the Nevada Wine Coalition is holding a fundraiser in Reno, Nevada. The event will include food, wine, live music and an auction. Tickets are available online at http://nevadawinecoalition.com/youre-invited/ for $25. Tickets at the door will be $30.

Discovering the grapevines that will grow well in Clark County will take time, research and experimental plantings. However, vineyards and wineries provide a boost to the economy with more employment opportunities and more income (taxes) for the government. In addition vineyards tend to add to the preservation of the land.

If you were planning a visit to Las Vegas, would you include a visit to a winery?

Cheers! Kathy