A new investigation is raising questions about labor practices connected to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s extensive Napa Valley wine holdings and a vineyard management company used by his business.
The City Journal investigation examined the PlumpJack Collection of Wineries, which Newsom co-founded and in which he retains a financial interest through a blind trust.
The report focused heavily on Renteria Vineyard Management, or RVM, a major Napa vineyard contractor that manages field operations at PlumpJack’s Oso Vineyard.
City Journal reported that its investigation was based on court documents, federal labor reports, government oversight records and interviews with sources throughout Napa’s wine industry.
EXCLUSIVE: We spent weeks in Napa Valley investigating Gavin Newsom’s wine empire. According to a whistleblower, the operation is built on undocumented migrant labor, in violation of the law.
Illegal aliens pick the grapes—and Newsom sells the wine for up to $7,000 a bottle. https://t.co/26XvCOQuDX
— Christopher Rufo (@christopherrufo) November 11, 2026
PlumpJack purchased the 129-acre Oso Vineyard in Pope Valley from Michael Mondavi Family Estate for $14.5 million in 2022.
The company’s other Napa holdings include PlumpJack Estate Winery, CADE Estate Winery, Odette Estate Winery and 13th Vineyard.
Altogether, City Journal reported that PlumpJack controls more than 400 acres of Napa vineyards.
Newsom placed his business interests into a blind trust after becoming governor in 2019 and does not participate in PlumpJack’s daily operations.
His financial disclosures nevertheless show that his blind trust continues to hold interests connected to PlumpJack and related wine and hospitality businesses.
Tax returns reviewed by City Journal reportedly showed Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, received at least $11 million in income between 2019 and 2024, with much of it connected to wineries, restaurants and other investments.
The investigation alleged that RVM has employed workers who were not legally authorized to work in the United States.
City Journal interviewed a former RVM employee who said he lived and worked illegally in the United States and claimed the company knew his immigration status.
“About 80 percent of all of us who worked there [were in the country illegally],” the former employee alleged. “The other 20 percent had regular status . . . . We’re talking about the majority across all the work crews being in the same situation.”
Asked whether management knew workers were undocumented, the former employee responded, “Absolutely, of course. There was a lot of them.” Federal law prohibits the knowing employment of unauthorized workers.
Those allegations have not been established in court, and City Journal did not report evidence showing that Newsom personally knew the immigration status of workers employed by PlumpJack contractors.
The report also examined federal H-2A visa records. City Journal found several H-2A cases identifying Oso as a worksite during 2022 and 2023 but reported finding no later applications identifying RVM or PlumpJack as the employer.
The H-2A program allows agricultural employers to bring foreign workers into the United States legally for temporary or seasonal jobs when specific federal requirements are satisfied.
RVM does not appear in the federal government’s searchable database of employers participating in E-Verify, according to the investigation.
E-Verify allows employers to electronically confirm whether newly hired workers are authorized to work in the United States.
RVM owner Oscar Renteria has publicly discussed immigration concerns among Napa farmworkers for years.
In a 2017 interview with the American Immigration Council, Renteria said, “Many of our farm workers have what I call a complicated immigration status.”
During the first Trump administration, Renteria also discussed anxiety among workers following immigration enforcement operations. “It’s causing a lot of panic,” Renteria told The New York Times in 2018. “They’re very nervous.”
The investigation additionally uncovered a history of labor enforcement actions involving RVM.
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor found wage-and-hour violations involving 45 RVM employees, according to federal enforcement records cited by City Journal.
City Journal also examined California taxpayer funding for three Napa County farmworker housing centers.
The facilities provide subsidized housing and services to agricultural workers, and the investigation reported that undocumented immigrants are eligible to reside there.
California began contributing $250,000 annually toward the facilities during Newsom’s first full year as governor, according to the report. Newsom signed legislation in September increasing the state contribution to as much as $500,000 annually.
City Journal argued that the arrangement creates a potential conflict because Newsom financially benefits from an industry that depends heavily on immigrant labor while his administration supports programs benefiting undocumented residents.
Newsom’s office strongly disputed any suggestion that the governor participates in PlumpJack’s employment or management decisions.
