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November 2017 WINES&VINES 15 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS S an Rafael, Calif.—In what may prove to be the state's deadliest and costliest natural disaster in modern history, wildfires ripped through nearly every premium winegrowing region in Northern California in mid-October. The fires had burned 245,000 acres, destroyed 6,900 structures and killed 42 people at press time. The blazes started late Oct. 8 and were fanned by strong, dry winds into violent firestorms that spread throughout Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino and Solano counties. When the fires began, a significant portion of the North Coast's Cabernet Sauvignon crop and other late-ripening varieties were still on the vine. Conse- quently, at many vineyards in areas under mandatory evacua- tion orders, grapes went unpicked for days with clusters hanging in thick, dark smoke. Fighting to save the vines Members of the Palmaz Vineyards picking crew encountered an un- welcome guest as they arrived at the property early Oct. 9. The Atlas Fire first reported Oct. 8 at 9:20 p.m. was encroaching on the family-owned property in the Coombsville AVA. In a moment, the vineyard workers became firefighters. When she spoke with Wines & Vines on Oct. 10 from the estate winery where she lives with her family, Florencia Palmaz was still reeling from the explosive fire. "This is completely to the credit of our vineyard team. This vineyard wouldn't exist if these guys weren't here," she said. "I am so grateful to the dedication of their effort. They have worked nonstop for 26 hours." After a full day of battling wild- fires, the fog rolled in just after midnight Oct. 10, and the flames subsided. Palmaz said the crew slept for a few hours before wak- ing up to start picking at 3 a.m. The remaining workers (several c r e w m e m b e r s c o u l d n ' t g e t through) harvested 7.5 tons of Clone 4 Cabernet Sauvignon. Several days later, as evacua- tion orders started to lift, the focus shifted to harvesting the remaining grapes and picking up the pieces of burnt homes and wineries. In Napa and Sonoma counties, growers and vintners sought to secure permits granting them ac- cess to pick grapes in areas closed by the fire. Napa County agricultural com- missioner Greg Clark told Wines & Vines on Oct. 16 that his office had granted 150 permits from 350 requests. Cal Fire and the ag commis- sioner's office advised wineries not to pick any grapes that had a dusting of pink fire retardant on them. Clark said firefighters haven't been dousing many vine- yards because they've proved to be effective fire breaks, but some retardant may have drifted onto vines. On Oct. 15, Cal Fire re- ported it had dropped more than 2 million gallons of retardant on fires throughout the state. The Napa Valley Vintners re- ported Oct. 18 that 47 member wineries had been damaged in the fires. According to Mendocino Winegrowers, 38 vineyard proper- ties totaling 900 acres were in the fire zone, and five vineyard prop- erties totaling around 200 acres in Potter Valley were damaged. Napa in the fire zone Signorello Estate, located along Napa Valley's Silverado Trail and founded in 1985, was one of the first victims of the fast-moving Atlas Fire. In a statement released later in the week, as firefighters were beginning to gain contain- ment on the blaze that had spread into Solano County, winery owner Ray Signorello pledged to rebuild. "The most important thing is that all 25 of our employees are safe," he said. "We can—and we will— rebuild the winery." While the winery buildings "es- sentially burned to rubble," Signo- rello said the estate vineyards are in good shape, and nearly all of the grapes had been picked. The 2017 wines in tanks taste sound, as do the 2016 reds and 2017 whites that were in barrel, he said. The win- ery's inventory of 2015 reds and 2016 white wines also were safe at an offsite warehouse. Michael Honig, chairman of NVV board and president of Honig Vineyards & Winery, said: "The Napa Valley community has always been a strong community. Robert Mondavi used to say, 'The better the Napa Valley brand does, the better we do individually.' We've struggled through drought, pesti- lence, earthquake—even Prohibi- tion. We suffered and we survived, so this is a hiccup in the context of a generational business." Sonoma County Fires struck nearly the length of Sonoma County—from Sonoma Valley, where the blazes threat- ened several historic wineries, up to Geyserville. Paradise Ridge winery, north of Santa Rosa, was destroyed in the Tubbs Fire. "Everything is gone, it's a big job to get our systems back up and running," said Sonia Byck-Bar- wick whose parents purchased the 155-acre property in 1978 and founded the winery in 1994. Byck-Barwick was happy to report that the winery's satellite tasting room in the small town of Kenwood, Calif., did survive. But for everyone in Sonoma County and the rest of the North Coast to rebound from the fires, she stressed the area needs to regain its lifeblood: tourism. "Our community needs people to keep coming to Sonoma County," she said. "We rely on people visit- ing, buying wine and visiting restaurants." David Jeffrey, owner of Calluna Vineyards on Chalk Hill, said in an email that between the fires and the heat wave during Labor Day Weekend, 2017 could be known "as the vintage from hell." From his vineyard, which has a 360° view of the surrounding region, he watched the Tubbs Fire explode into a firestorm and later evacuated because his property is only accessible by one road. Jeffrey makes his wine at the custom-crush facility Vinify in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa. While the winery es- caped the widespread destruction, it was in an evacuation area, so access was limited and there was no power. On Oct. 11, he managed to ac- cess the winery and do some criti- cal pumpovers. He said he picked TOP STORY Fires Rage Across North Coast Wine Country A plane dumps fire retardant on the Nuns Fire burning in Northern California on Oct. 15. Officials advise not to harvest berries touched by fire retardant.