After long legal battle, Moon Dancer Winery closes following SC ruling

Listen to this article

Wrightsville-based Moon Dancer Winery has closed following a ruling by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that ended a long legal battle.

“For years, we have been fighting for the right to be heard, and most importantly for the right to do the one thing that we have loved most in this world – make great wines, ciders and craft beverages for our loyal customers,” Jim Miller, owner of Moon Dancer Winery said in a statement. “Today, I’m sad to say that we lost our fight and must close our beloved winery.” 

Moon Dancer Winery has been engaged in a long-running legal dispute with a couple who purchased a residential property near the winery 13 years after Moon Dancer began its operations on a farm property overlooking the Susquehanna River. The lawsuit centered on the use of Miller’s agriculturally zoned property as a vineyard and winery.

The long legal battle saw the York County winery being forced to close temporarily in early June 2024 but reopening following a court order later that month. It was forced to close again in early July 2024 before reopening a month later. The winery filed an appeal to stay open in June 2025 and reopened again in September.

In a ruling this week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the winery’s final appeal, forcing the immediate closure after 22 years of business. 

Per the release, Miller said he lost his legal battle, despite never having the opportunity to defend himself against the underlying arguments of the case. In court filings, the winery noted that Miller was robbed of his constitutional right to due process as a result of alleged “fraudulent concealment” and “malfeasance” of his former legal counsel. 

Those alleged actions by Moon Dancer’s previous legal counsel “caused extraordinary circumstances resulting in the deprivation of its constitutional right to due process.” 

“Our prior legal counsel withheld information and failed to inform us of critical information in this case – including sanctions, an award of attorneys’ fees and important court rulings,” Miller said. “Those actions, or more accurately the inactions, of my previous attorney, deprived us of our due process rights and now has deprived us of our livelihood.” 

“While we are saddened by the state Supreme Court’s decision, we remain forever grateful for the thousands of friends and loyal customers who have continued to stand by us in this fight, and the countless wonderful memories we have made over these last 22 years,” added Miller. “Their continued support has meant everything to us. Thank you to each and every one of you.”