Vulgarian to vintner: California's Sonoma County cringes as celebrity chef Guy Fieri buys vineyard to make his own wine

Guy Fieri, the annoyingly boisterous, spiky-haired celebrity chef who searches dive bars and diners for the ever elusive 'flavortown,' has joined the rarefied ranks of Sonoma County gentlemen vintners.



The star of the Food Network's 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' has bought a five-acre vineyard of pinot noir grapes in the Russian River Valley -- ground zero in California's storied wine country.

His company, Knuckle Sandwich LLC, has submitted an application to build an Italian piazza to serve as a wine tasting room that will host around 'wine events' for 100 people a dozen times a year, according to records.

And that has town planners very worried.



Buy my wine: Guy Fieri, the annoyingly boisterous, spiky-haired celebrity chef has purchased a vineyard in Sonoma County and plans to make his own wine

The tasting room, according to the the Press Democrat , events and Fieri's ability to operate a commercial kitchen on the property all are subject to county approval.



The county has requested studies on what impact the project would have on the environment, including a noise study, reports the Democrat. The application is considered incomplete until those studies are done.

' What we're concerned about is the noise from the events and the traffic, and how that could impact the nearby residents,' Sonoma County planner Sigrid Swedenborg said.

Fieri's property is bordered by a quiet Santa Rosa street and a horse farm in a quiet area ' popular with bicyclists and songbirds.'

But for now Fieri is just, you know, totally psyched.



'Ever since I moved to Sonoma County and saw all this incredible environment of wine, from the agricultural side of it to the business side of it, to the community involvement side of it ... I've just been in awe,' Fieri told the newspaper. 'So my wife and I were talking about it, and saying, ‘Can we do that some day?''



The star of the Food Network's 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' has bought a five-acre vineyard of pinot noir grapes in the Russian River Valley -- ground zero in California's storied wine country

Fieri -- who has never met deep-fried food he didn't call slammin' or bangin' -- has even expressed interest initiated organic farming methods on the vineyard.



Fieri bought the property last year and has already sold his first vintage 2012 grapes to Jackson Family Wines and to the Williams Selyem winery in nearby Healdsburg.



'I think it will be pretty small at the current stage that it's in,' Fieri said. 'But if we're making wine and someone's drinking it and enjoying it, then it's a success. And it may be just us that's drinking and enjoying it.'



Stay classy: Guy Fieri posing with a modest and understated bottle of Moet & Chandon

Fieri's father, Jim Ferry (Guy changed his name to the family's original Italian spelling) is heading up the wine business.

'This year was a booming year, and the pinot came out real good,' he said.



Bob Cabral, general manager at Williams Selyem, said he knew Fieri for years.



'I think it will be a fun relationship,' Cabral said. 'He talks just like you'd talk to the next door neighbor. He's a very big personality on TV, but he's a very humble person at home, and I really respect that.'



Mr Fieri's company, Knuckle Sandwich LLC, has submitted an application to build an Italian piazza to serve as a wine tasting room that will host around 'wine events' for 100 people a dozen times a year. Town planners very worried

And what will Fieri call his wine?



His past name picks -- Donkey Sauce, the Nuclear Waste Margarita, Luscious Logs -- have been questionable at best.

'Our son's names are Hunter and Ryder, so we'd call it the ‘Hunt and Ryde,'' Fieri said.