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December 2017 WINES&VINES 17 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS 411 Russell Ave. • Santa Rosa, CA 95403 Ph: 707-528-7649 www.rcmaps.com • rca@rcmaps.com LAND SURVEYING • GIS • PLANNING • RESEARCH ™ Products Tentative Maps Subdivision Maps Records of Survey Custom AVA Maps Topographic Maps GIS/GPS Vineyard/Winery Aerial Photos Land Development Data Management As-Built Surveys Drone Pond Estate Boundary Aerial Control Protecting Your Estate? Passing on your legacy? Modernizing your management? Expanding? We can help! In business since 1976 using the current technology, Ray Carlson and Associates, Inc. can help by providing Surveys, GIS, Mapping, Historical Research and more. cisco. "We were beyond fortunate. Harvest was 90% complete, but the fires impacted every- one significantly," said Christine Lilienthal, marketing director. Cline's direct-to-consumer sales staff re- ported a great weekend Nov. 11-12, neverthe- less, Cline lost about a month of tasting room business. "The best way to support the winery is to visit or order online," Lilienthal said. Crossing the county line Clay Gregory, president and CEO of Visit Napa Valley, reported that tourism the first week of October was "very good, as it normally is. Then things dropped dramatically down." Most people who had planned visits can- celed their reservations, but some who were already in the valley stayed, including at least one hardy couple from Texas, which has seen its own share of disasters recently. Visit Napa Valley tracked hotel occupancy and revenue, and many local hotels hosted evacuees. The Meritage in southern Napa charged evacuees $99 per night, including three meals. Starting about Oct. 20, figures started to edge up, and that trend continued into early November. "The first Sunday (of November) showed higher occupancy than last year," Gregory said. In downtown Napa, Napa River Inn hosted evacuees and first responders, said general manager Sara Brooks. Still connected to power and the internet, the hotel opened its doors to locals left without ways to communicate. "We had people using our internet for seven or eight days. No one traveled. Pretty much all reservations canceled," Brooks recalled. Year on year, occupancy was down 10% to 15%. Brooks predicted that should be fully recovered by February or March. Allied businesses were also affected by the fires. Platypus Wine Tours, which has been leading Napa and Sonoma tours for about 13 years, suffered a huge downturn during the fires: about 60% of its business vs. last year, according to director of sales and marketing Jenny Toomer. People either canceled reservations or did not book tours, and Platypus drivers also suf- fered income loss. One said he'd worked only three days out of three weeks, which cost him about $2,500. The company set up a crowd- funding page for employees. One former guest donated $5,000. Cancellations have eased, and people want to support the wineries and the industry, Toomer said, adding: "The best thing is to get visitors." —Jane Firstenfeld FINANCIAL IMPACT OF WINE COUNTRY FIRES Low Estimate (millions) High Estimate (millions) Mendocino Grapes $1.53 $4.60 Sonoma Grapes $4.66 $13.98 Napa Grapes $4.61 $13.82 Future Wine Values of Grapes Lost $32.41 $97.22 Grape Acreage Lost $36.68 $73.36 Sales from Vineyards Requiring Replant $21.52 $21.52 Tasting Room Sales Lost in Fire Area $19.23 $38.46 Lost Revenues from Wineries Destroyed $50.00 $100.00 Buildings Plant and Equipment $75.00 $200.00 Total Financial Impact $245.64 $562.97 Some losses will be offset by insurance payments. Wine losses may stretch out up to six or seven years, depending on vintage loss. Source: bw166. As a point of reference, total revenues for California wineries in 2016 are estimated at $18 billion.