California seems to be experiencing the end of the world, or maybe it just feels that way.
After a freak weekend lightning storm – 10,849 lightning strikes were recorded – the state is dealing with 367 ongoing fires, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Some of the worst blazes are in Wine Country, with more than 10,000 people in Sonoma County ordered to evacuate their homes. Korbel, Gary Farrell and Fort Ross Vineyard are among the wineries in the Sonoma evacuation zone. Korbel was in the middle of harvest, but the winery closed and sent the crews home.
Napa County has three enormous wildfires that have merged into a wall of flames that is fortunately, for now, still east of most of the county's famous vineyards, though the top of Atlas Peak was evacuated Tuesday night. The fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties have so far covered more than 45,000 acres, a larger area than the city of Washington DC, with no containment at all by Wednesday afternoon. CalFire said Wednesday morning that 8 percent of Napa County had burned, and 24,000 people lost power because of the fire.
Monterey County is also dealing with a massive fire, and fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains was intense enough to cover cars with ash many miles away.
Fighting each individual fire is complicated because there are so many, so neighboring counties don't have firefighters and equipment to lend. The last time Sonoma County faced significant wildfires, fire crews poured in from all over the state to help out. This time, the CalFire incident commander for Sonoma County said during a Wednesday morning press conference that the same firefighters have been out working on the front lines for 72 hours, with no relief from other crews.
Drought, fire and plague
Not only is this happening during a pandemic; there's also a heat wave over most of the western US. Death Valley set a world record high temperature Sunday of 130 degrees Farenheit (54.4 Celsius). Temperatures near the fire zone in Napa Valley were approaching 100F. The heat complicates firefighting and encourages evacuees to congregate in air-conditioned evacuation centers, where they might contract Covid-19.
The heat is also rushing wine grapes to ripeness at an inopportune time. Some wineries and growers were trying to line up crews to pick grapes later this week, hoping to avoid both overripeness and potential smoke taint. In San Francisco, the air quality by Wednesday afternoon was listed as "unhealthy" because of the smoke, with residents advised to limit outdoor activities. (We left our windows open in San Francisco Tuesday night and woke up Wednesday morning with ash on our sofa.)
As if that's not enough, the heatwave has become a crisis for the state's utility companies, which imposed rolling blackouts on some residents over the weekend to save energy.
And just for good measure, California announced a case of bubonic plague over the weekend at Lake Tahoe.
"This is biblical," Jill Klein Matthiasson, co-owner of Matthiasson Wines in Napa, told Wine-Searcher. "One thing I can’t stop thinking about is earthquakes….ugh! It's horrible for the people who have been evacuated and have to go to a shelter during COVID. Luckily, we don’t have to evacuate." But she did lose power at the winery.
Matthiasson said that despite the proximity to the fire, the sky is clear over her winery.
"The heat has really advanced ripening, and we're worried about smoke damage, so we are harvesting our Phoenix Vineyard Cab tomorrow," Matthiasson said. "Coombsville has some haze so we are going to harvest there on Saturday or sooner, depending on the weather. We are plugging away on the Chardonnay and should have all of that picked by Friday. Then we'll move on to the rest of the reds, and hope that the winds stay in our favor. I wanted harvest to be done quickly because of Covid, and at this rate, we’ll have everything in by mid-September and all of our ferments finished by October 1. This is hands-down the most stressful year ever, even more than the 2014 earthquake harvest."
Watching the wind
In Sonoma County's Alexander Valley, Jordan Vineyard & Winery is also so far under blue skies, said Lisa Mattson, Jordan's director of marketing and communications.
"The smoke was drifting toward Healdsburg around 5 pm [Tuesday], but then it shifted due south," Mattson said. "The skies have stayed blue in Alexander Valley since the start of both fires, so we currently have no concerns about smoke for Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon. KSRO radio reported this morning that the wind may shift this afternoon, so we are watching the situation carefully. Because the fire has had no impact on air quality or travel in the Alexander Valley area, we are still planning to host guests with reservations."
Mattson said Jordan winemaker Maggie Kruse is planning to harvest Russian River Chardonnay next week, with Cabernet still some weeks behind.
Kashy Khaledi, proprietor of Ashes & Diamonds in Napa, said he hopes to pick estate Merlot on Friday.
"Napa Valley is holding steady for now, thankfully, though I have real concerns for our neighbors to the east in Vacaville as the wind is blowing in that direction," Khaledi told Wine-Searcher. "One thing I’ll say about Napa Valley as a whole is the county, Napa Valley Vintners and Visit Napa Valley have been proactive about the current situation. Behind the scenes, there has been a fluidity of information, vigilance and plans being developed."
Khaledi said that, in 2017, the winery rushed to harvest some vineyards as the brix (sugar level) went up during the heat wave, but then the brix dropped when the grapes arrived to the winery.
Khaledi took photos of the lightning storm from his vineyard, and one photo reminds him of his favorite Metallica album, "Ride the Lightning".
"This photo from our vineyard a couple days ago made me blast the album pretty loud," Khaledi said. "After three years of weather events, it's hard not to cherish the hashtag #napastrong as I listen to this classic. I guess all we can do is ride the lightning."
The Link LonkAugust 20, 2020 at 06:02AM
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Firestorm Danger for California Grape Harvest - Wine-Searcher
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