Napa & Sonoma CA Wildfires

[Tricia]

This was posted by @JayT on Facebook,
Red is within the last 12 hours, orange within 24, yellow older. That new big red circle above Sonoma is not good. There's a ton of fuel between there and town and if the winds turn that way... yeesh.

 

[tromano]

Seems like one body blow after another to America this season. Jeeze.

 

[John Webb]

Oops, I didn't see this fire thread and just posted in the " mostly wine stuff" thread.

Napa and Sonoma wine areas are totally hammered with huge uncontained fires now.
Stags Leap damaged as was Frey north of Ukiah.

 

[John Webb]

She lost her aunt & uncle who were the elderly couple that reported killed by the fire. He was 100yo & she was 98yo. Her aunt was her dad's last living sibling.

At that age you can't move fast enough , with just minutes of warning, to escape Atlas fire in Napa.

 

[skibob]

Oops, I didn't see this fire thread and just posted in the " mostly wine stuff" thread.

Napa and Sonoma wine areas are totally hammered with huge uncontained fires now.
Stags Leap damaged as was Frey north of Ukiah.

Frey was more than damaged. Paul Frey has confirmed completely destroyed.

Paradise Ridge, Nicholson Ranch and Signorello destroyed. Gundlach Bundschu seems to have saved the winery but lost the family home on the property (1800s). I saw a few others too, but can't recall the names.

However, I saw an idiotic article on Newsweek that concluded that you shouldn't buy 2017 wines because they were going to be terrible. No. They. Aren't.

95% of the grapes are already in. Unless a winery burned down, those wines are unaffected. A few fermentations will finish unattended because of power/access issues. Some vineyards have burned but it is still a ridiculously tiny %.

The average consumer is not going to notice a thing. Period. There will be slightly less wine. You won't notice. What is available will be just as good as usual. In fact, in general 2017 has been looking pretty good.

Oh, and our house still standing. The smoldering fires all around it are starting to cool. If last nights winds didn't kick anything up, I'm becoming increasingly confident that it will survive.

Our company had a close call with the fires (not quite as close as the house) but appears to be coming out of danger. We are planning to open for business next week at this point.

 

[Tricia]

Frey was more than damaged. Paul Frey has confirmed completely destroyed.

@Andy Mink and his wife @AKMINK will not be happy to hear this.

Paradise Ridge, Nicholson Ranch and Signorello destroyed. Gundlach Bundschu seems to have saved the winery but lost the family home on the property (1800s). I saw a few others too, but can't recall the names.

However, I saw an idiotic article on Newsweek that concluded that you shouldn't buy 2017 wines because they were going to be terrible. No. They. Aren't.

95% of the grapes are already in. Unless a winery burned down, those wines are unaffected. A few fermentations will finish unattended because of power/access issues. Some vineyards have burned but it is still a ridiculously tiny %.

The average consumer is not going to notice a thing. Period. There will be slightly less wine. You won't notice. What is available will be just as good as usual. In fact, in general 2017 has been looking pretty good.

Oh, and our house still standing. The smoldering fires all around it are starting to cool. If last nights winds didn't kick anything up, I'm becoming increasingly confident that it will survive.

Our company had a close call with the fires (not quite as close as the house) but appears to be coming out of danger. We are planning to open for business next week at this point.

There was a woman from one of the vineyards who said that the grapes that were still on the vine, (perhaps a later harvest?) would be hard to work with because of the smoke. That was, if they weren't burned to the ground.

 

[Andy Mink]

@Andy Mink and his wife @AKMINK will not be happy to hear this.


There was a woman from one of the vineyards who said that the grapes that were still on the vine, (perhaps a later harvest?) would be hard to work with because of the smoke. That was, if they weren't burned to the ground.

It's all bad. My college roommate and his wife have evacuated once, maybe twice. Haven't heard back after the second time.

 

[crgildart]

I have a cousin who is a Sonoma County fire fighter. He was working day four on five hours sleep when help from other counties finally arrived.
Fire like this is more terrifying to me than just about anything. With floods you can swim or find something to float on. With tornadoes you can shelter underground. With fire raging in from all sides all you can do is hope to suffocate before you burn to death..

 

[Jenny]

Oh, and our house still standing. The smoldering fires all around it are starting to cool. If last nights winds didn't kick anything up, I'm becoming increasingly confident that it will survive.

That's some good news . . .

 

[skibob]

@Andy Mink and his wife @AKMINK will not be happy to hear this.


There was a woman from one of the vineyards who said that the grapes that were still on the vine, (perhaps a later harvest?) would be hard to work with because of the smoke. That was, if they weren't burned to the ground.

This time of year its difficult, but not impossible, for grapes to take on smoke taint. Its entirely possible that one specific vineyard remains to be picked here and there. Just saying, overall, its nearly all in in our area. If it does take on smoke taint, it can be removed. I invented one of the (best processes for removing it.

 

[skibob]

That's some good news . . .

And I have since learned that the winds didn't get nearly as bad as predicted. And are supposed to continue to weaken. Major rain event . . . next Thursday. So far away.

But on the bright side . . . it should translate into SNOW FOR THE SIERRA!!!!!!!

 

[Tricia]

A friend of ours who lives in Santa Rosa reported that their home was still standing but burned to a point of not being livable.

 

[James]

Truly insane.
Sonoma County Police helicopter over Santa Rosa:

 

[ScotsSkier]

@skibob does it mean that it may impact next years grapes if the vines are absorbing smoke?

 

[James]

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article178323036.html
Quote:
---------------
One saving grace: As much as 90 percent of this year’s grapes already have been harvested, as a late-summer heat wave prompted growers to take many of their grapes off the vines earlier than usual.

“The heat spike over Labor Day weekend, which all the farmers grumbled about, sparked a couple of very fast and furious weeks of harvesting,” said Karissa Kruse, president of the Sonoma County Winegrowers trade association. “We’re still trying to wrap our arms around whatever damage has been done (by the fire) to the remaining grapes.”

One big problem though: The priciest grapes are the ones, by and large, that are still on the vine. Kaan Kurtural, a UC Davis viticulture scientist who works out of Napa Valley, said the unharvested grapes are mainly cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah.

“This is premium stuff,” he said. Napa cabernet sauvignon grapes sell for about $6,800 a ton, among the highest price paid for grapes anywhere on earth.

Of chief concern is whether grapes still on the vine have been affected by a phenomenon known as “smoke taint,” which is exactly what it sounds like. Kurtural fears that at least some of the grapes will be rendered unusable by the heavy smoke.

“It’s like you’re standing next to a mesquite barbecue grill,” Kurtural said. Anita Oberholster, an agricultural chemist at UC Davis, said “even 30 minutes (of smoke) could affect the grapes.”
----------

 

[Tricia]

Truly insane.
Sonoma County Police helicopter over Santa Rosa:

Every new image I see of this fire is more insane than the next.

 

[Tricia]

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article178323036.html
Quote:
---------------
One saving grace: As much as 90 percent of this year’s grapes already have been harvested, as a late-summer heat wave prompted growers to take many of their grapes off the vines earlier than usual.

“The heat spike over Labor Day weekend, which all the farmers grumbled about, sparked a couple of very fast and furious weeks of harvesting,” said Karissa Kruse, president of the Sonoma County Winegrowers trade association. “We’re still trying to wrap our arms around whatever damage has been done (by the fire) to the remaining grapes.”

One big problem though: The priciest grapes are the ones, by and large, that are still on the vine. Kaan Kurtural, a UC Davis viticulture scientist who works out of Napa Valley, said the unharvested grapes are mainly cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah.

“This is premium stuff,” he said. Napa cabernet sauvignon grapes sell for about $6,800 a ton, among the highest price paid for grapes anywhere on earth.

Of chief concern is whether grapes still on the vine have been affected by a phenomenon known as “smoke taint,” which is exactly what it sounds like. Kurtural fears that at least some of the grapes will be rendered unusable by the heavy smoke.

“It’s like you’re standing next to a mesquite barbecue grill,” Kurtural said. Anita Oberholster, an agricultural chemist at UC Davis, said “even 30 minutes (of smoke) could affect the grapes.”
----------

Another concern is the damage to vineyards. How many years does it take to grow these vines?
@MattD ??
Oops, I was tagging @Matthew Deem but glad to call out another Northern California member to check in.

 

[John Webb]

Oops, I didn't see this fire thread and just posted in the " mostly wine stuff" thread.

Napa and Sonoma wine areas are totally hammered with huge uncontained fires now.
Stags Leap damaged as was Frey north of Ukiah.

Frey was more than damaged. Paul Frey has confirmed completely destroyed.

Paradise Ridge, Nicholson Ranch and Signorello destroyed. Gundlach Bundschu seems to have saved the winery but lost the family home on the property (1800s). I saw a few others too, but can't recall the names.

Thanks Bob.
I actually knew Frey, North of Ukiah, was destroyed but could not verify. Didn't want to pass on bad (Fake) news.

Other wineries in Napa are likely to burn in the Atlas fire coming down mountains on the east side of Napa. Out-of-state
firefighters from NV,AZ,WA,OR, USFS and others are arriving. Will help greatly !

 

[Tricia]

@skibob does it mean that it may impact next years grapes if the vines are absorbing smoke?

Will it make a "smoky" wine that becomes a "limited edition"?

 

[Tricia]

Wines and Vines is talking about the impact these fires (remember there are several fires) are having on the wine world.
https://www.winesandvines.com/news/article/190537/Wine-Industry-at-Center-of-Raging-Fires