The headlines sound ominous: “Devastating Fires in Northern California Wine Country.”
One might think the industry has been brought to its knees and that the wine will stop flowing from the likes of Napa and Sonoma. The facts to date tell a different story.
When the fires broke out in October, up to 95% of this year’s grape crop had been harvested, according to Sonoma Vintner’s Association Executive Director Michael Haney’s statement to CBS News in San Francisco. So the wines were already fermenting in tanks and barrels inside the wineries.
As industry spokesman Tom Wark points out in “Fermentation — The Daily Wine Blog,” the very words “wine country” are somewhat misleading. Northern California’s vineyards and wineries cover a vast swath from Mendocino County in the far north, with two distinct sub-regions. They continue through Sonoma County — with sub-regions such as the Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Bennett Valley and Sonoma Valley — before reaching the Napa Valley with its many famous sub-regions such as the Silverado Trail.
To this point, fires have not touched most of the wineries in this large area.
A notable exception is Alexander Valley’s Soda Rock Winery, which is a compete loss.
Healdsburg's Soda Rock Winery, a beautiful family-owned property that dates back to 1869, is engulfed in flames.
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Video: @sfchronicle | @CAGisMe.
Story: https://t.co/AxeqOnXW4T #kincadefires pic.twitter.com/WkmI1088Xq
— Paolo Lucchesi (@lucchesi) October 27, 2019
Ten other Napa wineries and seven Sonoma wineries report more minor damage.
As in the damaging fires of 2017, the most extensive fire damage has been on mountainous locations thick with forest and dry, combustible underbrush.
At lower elevations, the vineyards themselves serve as natural, albeit imperfect, fire breaks. The key remains preventing the fires from jumping the breaks to burn the winery buildings where, at least for now, most of the wine remains secure.
According to the Wine Institute, California wine generated sales of $40 billion and $1.5 billion in exports in 2018. Wine tourism generated another $7.2 billion.
For complete updates on the fires, see the San Francisco Chronicle Fire Tracker map.
