Napa & Sonoma CA Wildfires

[ScotsSkier]

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

Sort of like the Napa version of Lagavoulin and similar peaty Islay Whisky???

 

[Tricia]

Sort of like the Napa version of Lagavoulin and similar peaty Islay Whisky???

I mean.....why not?

 

[crgildart]

They're asking folks with RVs to loan them to the fire crews to borrow at surround campgrounds so the fire fighters have places to rest between shifts. They are asking people with medical or nursing experience to go to the shelters to help care for the elderly nursing home evacuees and other disabled folks. With national resources already pretty over extended, national help for this ongoing catastrophe might be very late and light. State and other local folks are probably on their own for the most part..

 

[DanoT]

I was thinking that between flood and fire destroying so much housing in the US, the RV industry is going to be going full bore building trailers and motorhomes for short to medium term housing.

Also softwood tariffs that Trumps want to impose on Canadian exporters is going to hurt Americans trying to rebuild more than it will help US softwood producers who are going to be selling all they can produce anyway.

 

[Tony]

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

Not @skibob but I don't think so. Grape vines (assuming they live through the fire) get pruned heavily in winter and smoke from this fall should not affect next year's fruit.

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

No. If anything there will be a discount for wines affected by smoke as it is undesirable. Many of the grapes not yet picked will probably be abandoned and some of the grapes already being processed may not be usable as fermentation has been uncontrolled, either from lack of temperature control or because winemakers cannot enter building due to CO2 buildup from lack of ventilation (both due to power being off).

I picked again today at Satori near Gilroy, about 30 miles S of San Jose. I was part of group of volunteers that picked over 3 tons of Deaver Zinfandel clone and Cabernet Sauvignon this morning. Some of the Zin should have been picked earlier and was discarded as it was picked too late since winery can only process so much fruit at a time. People who live near the winery reported a light frost which is early for our area. I've had some dew at my house the last two mornings which should help the firefighting efforts although I've seen reports and predictions of low humidity and some winds which are not good.

 

[James]

Maybe thie smoke damaged grapes could be made into cooking wine. It could then be sold and used for a signature dish everyone in California makes one night. Or they sell the bottles to raise money for wineries.

An Italian chef did this in 2012 after wheels of Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese worth were broken and unsellable. People came and bought broken cheese. Later they had a national dish made with parmiggiano.

 

[skibob]

Truly insane.
Sonoma County Police helicopter over Santa Rosa:

That is the Coffey Park area. The scary part is those cars backed up on that road (32 second mark) are heading out of one fire and into another.

 

[skibob]

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

No. There has never been a "smoke hangover" observed. A lot of people hypothesized this in 2008 fires (including me), but it didn't materialize in 2009.

 

[skibob]

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article178323036.html
Quote:
---------------

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 true. But you have to understand that is rare earth. Cold fusion. Even if you can afford it, you probably can't get an allocation of it.

 

[skibob]

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.

3-5 years. But again, the actual total affected acreage is likely to be so small (relatively) that consumers will never notice. Unless you have a favorite single vineyard wine (most aren't) and that particular vineyard was destroyed.

 

[skibob]

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 !

I'd say its entirely possible. I know of a few there and in Sonoma Valley. But they've not been named publicly yet so I would like to let them control their own info. Paul Frey has openly discussed it, so no reason not to.

BTW, you may have heard that Chateau St Jean was destroyed. That does appear to be true. However, CSJ hasn't actually been made there in years. Treasury WIne Estates (parent company, 3 or 4 largest wine co in world) moved production to their big Napa facility long ago and mothballed the winery.

 

[skibob]

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

Only if you like to pour your wine into a dirty ashtray and then drink it. Seriously though, like I said, I invented one of the prominent methods for removing this from wine and it is one of many things our company does. There will be very few affected. And you won't find these wines in a bottle until these compounds (volatile phenols primarily) are removed.

 

[skibob]

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

I am surprised by Alison's estimate that 1/3 of grapes remain to be harvested. She really knows her stuff and has her finger on the pulse at least as well as just about anybody. I'd hate to contradict her. But she may have meant that her company (which is one of the largest vineyard owners of premium wine grapes) has 1/3 remaining. Not clear which she meant. The estimates I hear from others are 90 to 95% done. Some wineries are 100% done.

 

[skibob]

Sort of like the Napa version of Lagavoulin and similar peaty Islay Whisky???

LOL. Lagavoulin I'll drink.

 

[skibob]

Not @skibob but I don't think so. Grape vines (assuming they live through the fire) get pruned heavily in winter and smoke from this fall should not affect next year's fruit.


No. If anything there will be a discount for wines affected by smoke as it is undesirable. Many of the grapes not yet picked will probably be abandoned and some of the grapes already being processed may not be usable as fermentation has been uncontrolled, either from lack of temperature control or because winemakers cannot enter building due to CO2 buildup from lack of ventilation (both due to power being off).

I picked again today at Satori near Gilroy, about 30 miles S of San Jose. I was part of group of volunteers that picked over 3 tons of Deaver Zinfandel clone and Cabernet Sauvignon this morning. Some of the Zin should have been picked earlier and was discarded as it was picked too late since winery can only process so much fruit at a time. People who live near the winery reported a light frost which is early for our area. I've had some dew at my house the last two mornings which should help the firefighting efforts although I've seen reports and predictions of low humidity and some winds which are not good.

Right. I'm much more concerned about unattended fermentations that smoke. But smoke tainted wines won't be dumped. They'll get treated by us or a competitor to remove the smoke from the wine.

When samples start to come in to our office, I'll save some and bring them to Tahoe (unmarked--sorry, you can't know where they come from). Its actually a fun exercise to taste them intellectually. But not tasty. Nothing like Lagavoulin. Really, its an ashtray, with creosote finish.

 

[skibob]

Maybe thie smoke damaged grapes could be made into cooking wine. It could then be sold and used for a signature dish everyone in California makes one night. Or they sell the bottles to raise money for wineries.

An Italian chef did this in 2012 after wheels of Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese worth were broken and unsellable. People came and bought broken cheese. Later they had a national dish made with parmiggiano.

We treated over a million gallons of smoke tainted wine from 2008 vintage. This won't be nearly that bad. The worst time for smoke is mid june to end of July. The vines are actively translocating nutrients through the phloem (respirating) at that time. Now smoke has to be intense and close (and of course it is in some cases) to cause harm.

 

[skibob]

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.

Just to clarify, Nicholson Ranch has an extensive cave system that won't have been affected. So to say "destroyed" refers to a building, but not really the entire winery.

 

[James]

Is it possible to use say fog machines to ward off smoke? Or would that be worse? Like they do for frost in Florida.

 

[James]

That is the Coffey Park area. The scary part is those cars backed up on that road (32 second mark) are heading out of one fire and into another.

What's weird is the houses on fire but the trees around them are not. Is that common? Do the trees burn later?

 

[Andy Mink]

What concerns me is this is not just wood smoke that people are breathing. Consider all the household chemicals, pesticides, paint, asphalt, shingles, all the car parts, and other nasty stuff that is burning. That cannot be good for the people breathing that smoke and it can't be good to have on grapes. There will be a lot of lingering health issues.