Wine Country Times

Wildfires in California have burned record acreage equaling the area of Connecticut, including historic properties and vineyards in Napa and Sonoma counties.

The rapidly-spreading Glass Fire, which ignited on Sept. 26, has wreaked havoc in the California wine region, stoked by dry, windy conditions. Earlier this week, the fire had spread to 66,848 acres and at least partially burned 1,309 buildings, according to Food & Wine.

As the wildfire made its way through Calistoga, it destroyed a Castello di Amorosa farmhouse that stored $5 million in wine inventory, bottling operations, fermentation tanks and a laboratory, according to the Mercury News. The winery’s most famous structure, a $30 million castle built by vintner Darryl Sattui to honor his ancestors, escaped unscathed.

As of this week, 21 vineyards have sustained damage from the Glass Fire, including properties in Spring Mountain, a place renowned for avoiding wildfires.

Unlike previous years in which the celebrated wine country escaped damage by harvesting before smoke or flames could ruin their crops, this year the fires started at the beginning of harvest.

Even many properties the fire has missed are suffering losses as smoke exposure ruins grapes, according to Fox News. Harvests are being cut short or entirely canceled. Doug Shafer of Shafer Vineyards has not bottled anything from this year's grape crop.

“We didn’t even crush grapes,” he told Food & Wine. “When you’ve done this for 37 years, and you’re hardwired to make wines, it’s a gut-wrencher. It came down to a quality decision for Shafer. We did micro fermentations, and [the wine was] just not up to Shafer quality standards. I don’t want to lose any customers. I can’t run that risk.”

Although they managed a small batch of Sauvignon Blanc, Honig Vineyard and Winery also missed out on a 2020 vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon, according to Food & Wine. 

Rob Mondavi Jr., winemaker and co-founder of the Oso Vineyard, which sustained severe damage, blames strict California regulations preventing forestry management, like controlled burns.

“What we are allowed to do as landowners has been predicated by the state and Bay Area Air Quality Management District,” he said as reported in Food & Wine. “Part of the argument is if we have different regulations in place on how to manage the understory of forested areas, it begs the question, will fires that we will always have here in California become more manageable so they don’t become megafires? There has to be a collective effort to acknowledge climate change and to find a solution to allow appropriate forest management.”

The Glass Fire is recognized as the most destructive fire ever to affect the Napa and Sonoma Valley wine region, according to the Mercury News.