Two wineries damaged by latest Cali wildfires

By Lisa Riley

Published: 25 August, 2020

The Wine Institute (CWI) has confirmed that, as of last night, two wineries in California have experienced damage as a result of the latest wildfires.

“While it is a fluid situation, and fires are near vineyards in some areas, wineries and vineyards have escaped fire damage, with the exception of one winery in Solano County and one winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains,” said the CWI.

Some evacuations were “precautionary measures” for the safety of individuals and to allow first responders access if needed, and did not mean damage to a wine region, it added.

“The fires are in very remote areas of the state, so luckily, this is a different scenario from 2017,” the CWI reiterated.

It also said the fires were “settling down in Napa Valley, they seem to be manageable now and are going in the right direction of containment”.

With harvest continuing in all areas, most wineries in Napa Valley were able to proceed with taking their first grapes last week, the CWI added.

“With worker safety protocols in place, harvest is going on full steam ahead in most of California’s wine regions, with wineries picking fruit for sparkling wines as well as aromatic whites and some red varieties.

“The 2020 growing season has been generally cool and recent warmer temperatures accelerated ripening in many areas, making for an earlier than normal harvest. Vintners are anticipating light to moderate crops with good concentration of flavour and colour as harvest progresses.”

The latest wildfires broke out in the northern part of the state on 17 August, with Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, declaring a statewide emergency the following day after a weekend of abnormally high temperatures and storm activity.

Photo credit, Kent Porter @kentphotos via Twitter, 19 August .

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