Pahrump Valley Winery Loses Its Liquor License

The Nye County Board of Commissioners voted 5 to 1 to revoke the Pahrump Valley Winery’s liquor license on Tuesday.

On July 7, the county liquor board notified Kathy Trout, listed as an officer in Nevada Wine Cellars Inc., which does business as the Pahrump Valley Winery, that she had until 5 p.m. that day to submit paperwork and payment or its conditional liquor license would be suspended, according to the Pahrump Valley Times. That suspension was moved until August 18 after a series of delays in order for the new owners to get paperwork gathered.

The winery was sold in 2019 to John Hobbs and Trout in a stock transfer, and Trout contends that the liquor license transferred with the sale of the venue. Nye County officials say the liquor license belongs to individual applicants and not the business.

Former winery owner Bill Loken told the board that he sold the winery for $7.5 million and stipulated that the current staff, including his wife Gretchen Loken, must be kept on board, KPVM reports. After the deal fell through last year in April, Gretchen Loken, who held the liquor license, no longer worked at the winery.

The Pahrump winery has been operating on a conditional license for more than a year.

• Pahrump Valley Winery Liquor License Revoked [KPVM]

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