War of the rosés! Wyoming winery owners fight back against bitter neighbors who got their booming business shut down

A Wyoming winery is squaring off with its neighbors after they successfully shut down the business through a feud with the community's homeowners' association. 

The popular Jackson Hole Winery, set in the rolling hills of the Cowboy State, is fighting to stay in business after it angered its neighbors Robert Kirk and Viesia Kirk in 2022. 

The Kirks won a lawsuit filed that year, claiming it violated regulations on commercial activities, forcing them to halt all business outside Teton County despite previously shipping thousands of crates across the world. 

To stay alive, owner Bob Schroth claimed in a counter-filing that Kirk misrepresented his understanding of the winery in his lawsuit, attempting to remain in business on a technicality. 

Schroth said that while Kirk claimed he never knew of the winery's success until 2020, Kirk bought a case of his wine and left an email on his registry back in 2017. 

It comes amid a bitter dispute between the two, as Schroth told Cowboy State Daily that 'you know, we've been in business for years... they just decided to do something in 2022.' 

Bob Schroth, owner of Jackson Hole Winery, is counter-suing his neighbors after they shut down his business 

The Jackson Hole Winery, a popular spot in Wyoming's rolling hills that reportedly generates $2 million-a-year, has been limited to only selling wines in Teton County after its neighbors complained 

Schroth and his wife moved into his Teton County neighborhood in 1993, and began to explore opening their winery in 2011 as they sought approval from the homeowner's association. 

The property falls under both Teton County land use regulations and the policies of the homeowner's association, which ultimately approved the Schroth's request for a petition to make wine in their barn. 

But according to the Kirk's lawsuit, the winery never had permission for its current activities, including 'high-intensity wine production, bottling, packaging and shipping of high volumes of wine to other destinations for profit.' 

Jackson Hole Winery ships around 4,000 cases of wine around the globe each year, puts on wine tastings and weddings in its scenic location, and reportedly generates $2 million-a-year. 

The Kirk's lawsuit claims this violated the homeowner's association rule on commercial businesses, which they feel could hurt the region's status as a sleepy, affluent area. 

Schroth told the Cowboy State Daily that he counter-sued on these grounds, finding the lawsuit to be trivial because the Kirks - who reportedly live a quarter mile away from the winery - do not share a private road with them.

Following a judge's ruling, the winery can still make wines and hold its own private wine tastings on property, but has been forced to halt its formerly successful operation 

'They don’t drive by the winery. Our customers don’t drive by their house, so they see no traffic,' he said. 'They can’t see the winery, they can’t hear it... It really has no effect on them at all.' 

In his reported recent filing, Schroth added: 'Plaintiffs will suffer no harm whatsoever from the operation of the winery, and never have.' 

The winery has faced limitations before, including a conditional use permit from the Teton County Planning Department that limited them to 30 tasting-room guests per day. 

According to reported court documents, the Schroth's didn't shy away from expanding their winery despite complaints being lodged at them dating back to 2013, including spending over $600,000 on upgrades to the property. 

The Kirk's reportedly said their lawsuit was triggered by a trip to the winery in September 2020, when they were surprised to find how large it was. 

They then attempted to prevent the county from re-approving their conditional work permit in 2022 - and when that failed to work, they sued at the end of the year to try and halt all of its activities. 

The Schroths reportedly spent over $600,000 upgrading the winery, despite it being allegedly against the homeowner association rules 

The lawsuit went to trial in March, when Wyoming District Court Judge Peter Froelicher ruled that the Kirks were correct in their assessment of the homeowner's association rules. 

His ruling also prevented anyone not in the Schroth family from working at the winery, which Schroth said may force him to fire four employees. 

In his last-ditch attempt to remain in business, Schroth claimed that the Kirks delayed filing their lawsuit by two years, and misrepresented when they knew about the winery's expansion. 

But Froelicher's final judgement appears to make this a moot-point, and notes that Schroth's argument over harm caused to the Kirk's is not the reason for his ruling. 

'Regardless of whether Jackson Hole Winery’s operations directly, physically impact the Kirks, a large and growing commercial wine-making, wine-distributing, wine-selling and wine-marketing business is not consistent with the covenant,' his order read, per the Cowboy State Daily.