A quaint town dubbed America’s slice of Tuscany has been overrun by drunken bachelorette parties running amok in the streets.
Located in the Sierra Nevada of Northern California and just 150 miles from San Francisco, Murphys is home to around 2,000 people and is popular with vacationers thanks to a large number of vineyards and tasting rooms.
But many locals and regular visitors are increasingly fed up with the rowdy bar scene, where partygoers binge-drink wine rather than drink to taste. SF Gate reported this week.
“They’ll dance on the counter,” said Elie Frey of Allegorie Wine on Main Street. “And then throw up outside,” she added.
Meanwhile, older crowds sit nearby happily “drinking sauvignon blanc and enjoying shrimp salad in the sun, talking about their nephews and kale.”
The growing division has earned Murphys a new nickname in the local media: “The city of two faces.”
Located in the Sierra Nevada of Northern California and just 150 miles from San Francisco, Murphys is home to around 2,000 people.
It’s popular with tourists thanks to its abundance of vineyards and tasting rooms, and has become a hotbed for booze-fueled bachelorette parties like the one at the town hotel seen above.
Murphys Ranked One of the Most Scenic Travel Destinations in the US in 2021 Forbes article who stated that a wine tasting in the city “will make you feel like you’re in Tuscany.”
But the town, founded by three Irish brothers in 1844, has inadvertently become a popular venue for hen parties.
Frey, who settled in Murphys 12 years ago after living all over the Golden State, explained how the number of wine tasting rooms has skyrocketed in recent years.
While pouring a $24,000 oak barrel-aged chardonnay, he told an SFGate reporter: ‘There were seven tasting rooms when I first moved here. Now there are 20’.
This has led many companies to introduce new themes to help them stand out, such as lavender wine, oyster wine, and even CBD wine, combinations that would surely be mocked in Italy.
“I think there’s a ‘wine and hats’ place now,” Frey told the outlet.
But despite this, he told the outlet that he has no plans to leave.
What makes matters worse is that, aside from the bottles on display, the service is free, unlike other popular bars like Sonoma and Napa, not to mention Tuscany.
Therefore, the tastings are not exactly in good taste and often result in rowdy outings on Main Street.
This has resulted in locals staying away from the area, particularly on weekends, SFGate reported.
A quiet bookstore a few doors away is among those rife with weekly revelry, some of which was seen in an infamous 2011 episode of Gordon Ramsay’s Hotel Hell centered on another establishment on Main Street.
Books on Main’s Brenna Landis told the outlet that this behavior still exists 13 years later, with wedding parties being one of the most scandalous forms of visitation.
“My coworker and I were organizing the books in the children’s corner and a wedding party arrived,” she recalled.
“They were drunk and stepping on children’s books, and we said, ‘You can’t do that!'”
He joked: “We should put up a sign that says, ‘No drunk hen parties allowed in the kids’ section.’
This has resulted in locals staying away from the area, particularly on weekends, SFGate reported.
Fed up with the rowdy bar scene and partygoers drinking gallons of wine, locals complained to the newspaper that their picturesque paradise was turned upside down.
Meanwhile, older crowds sit “drinking sauvignon blanc and enjoying shrimp salad in the sun, talking about their nephews and kale,” the paper reported.
Some of the city’s decor appears to cater specifically to wedding parties, including a pink Best Friends consignment store that the local outlet describes as “straight out of an American Girl catalog.”
Meanwhile, almost all other establishments are wine rooms and all of them offer free tastings.
The woman went on to reveal her ties to the town that was once known for the gold hidden in its hills and now for the wine that flows freely from its establishments.
“My great-grandmother lived here,” said the lifelong resident. ‘My grandparents live here. My mom grew up here.
“It has a very small-town feel, like ‘Gilmore Girls,'” she continued.
“It’s like, ‘Oh, hey, I’m Dave the mailman.’ You know everyone on the street.
That’s why locals, for the most part, know when to stay away, he told SFGate, citing how Main Street is mostly filled with second homes owned by people from the more liberal Bay Area.
This is in contrast to Calaveras County, where Murphys is located, which has a decidedly right-wing demographic, creating more tension.
“Sometimes things get a little uncertain,” Landis explained. ‘During Pride, we have a table in the front. Some people see it, turn around and walk away.’
Despite this, she also has no plans to move.
Some of the city’s decor appears to cater specifically to wedding parties, including a pink Best Friends consignment store that the local outlet describes as “straight out of an American Girl catalog.”
Almost all other establishments are wine rooms, and places like Murphys Historic Hotel are famous for their drinking clientele.
One of the oldest establishments in California, it opened in 1856 and regularly hosts bachelorette parties.
Places like Murphys Historic Hotel are famous for their hard-drinking clientele, many of whom hail from the Bay Area.
In a 2011 episode of Gordon Ramsay’s ‘Hotel Hell’ focusing on the business, the young owners were seen giving lap dances and ripping off their shirts to entertain groups of girls, much to the chef’s dismay.
These bachelorettes frequently clash with locals and history buffs who come to town to admire the plaques on the 19th-century buildings around Main Street, where shamrocks are displayed in honor of the brothers who founded the settlement.
In a 2011 episode of Gordon Ramsay’s ‘Hotel Hell’ focusing on the business, the young owners were seen giving lap dances and ripping off their shirts to entertain groups of girls, much to the chef’s dismay.
These bachelorettes frequently clash with locals and history buffs who come to town to admire the plaques on the 19th-century buildings around Main Street, where shamrocks are displayed in honor of the brothers who founded the settlement.
Retirees are also plentiful, many of them well-off women who complain that wedding parties are taking over their streets, SFGate found.
Residents say second-home transplants to the coast also make life more expensive.
Meanwhile, the music from Main Street’s Irish pubs continues to radiate and wine rooms continue to offer free tastings.
Each year, the town holds its Chicken in a Barrel festival in the town park, where locals buy barrel-roasted chickens made to sell.
The town, meanwhile, was founded by three Irish brothers in 1844. It can be seen here several decades later.
However, as the SFGate reporter noted: “Despite the city’s contradictions, everyone seems to coexist in some form of harmony, describing the small settlement as a ‘city of contradictions’.”
“(Everyone) will be present at the upcoming Chicken in a Barrel festival in the park,” he continued, pointing out the city’s great equalizer: an annual festival held each summer where locals buy barrel-roasted chickens made to sell .
