Dario Sattui, the vintner of V. Sattui Winery and the Castello di Amoroso in Napa Valley, is now faced with a boycott of 7,612 people because of a letter he wrote criticizing the wages and benefits of North Bay Firefighters.

While Sattui has responded to the criticism with comments on the V. Sattui Winery’s Facebook page and on the Press Democrat website, the boycott continues to grow.  The Public Safety Boycott V Sattui Winery and Castello di Amoroso on Facebook, which had 2,000 last Monday, has more than tripled. Meanwhile the V. Sattui Wine Tastes Like Recycled Sewage Facebook page , which initially 266 members, has doubled with 455 members.

Will the boycott be called off or will it continue to fester?

Social media expert Peter Shankman said as far as he knows there’s no negotiations site set up to handle this kind of brouhaha.  But, he said, when there’s an online issue raging, people negotiate just like they do off-line.

“Look at human nature,” Shankman said. “People like to argue. They like to debate. A cease-fire is made online just like in real life, when enough people in one camp come to an agreement with those in another camp. Online isn’t that different from offline in that regard.”

Here’s a recap of what Sattui wrote in the controversial letter published in the St. Helena Star: “While I respect the work they do and the inherent dangers, they are greatly overpaid, work only two days a week (a third of which they sleep) and get to retire at 50 years old at 90 percent of their pay after working 30 years … But maybe getting paid 90 percent of one’s maximum pay for another 25 to 30 years for doing nothing isn’t so unjust, as they received high salaries for working very little before they retired.”

So what do you think? Any end in sight for the boycott?