Wildfires and the Real Harm to California's Wine Economy

 Real, physical damage? Overall it's pretty small. Where is the actual damage? It's in the perception.

There are about 3,700 wineries in California

There are 500 wineries in Napa County and another 425 next door in Sonoma. In this year's fire in Napa about a dozen wineries were destroyed or seriously damaged. There was varying degrees of damage to a dozen others. The damage done to homes, wineries and property is serious and devastating to those affected, but Napa Valley didn't burn down.

Location of Fires

Most of the coastal fires in Northern California were in Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties. There were others farther north and east. Many of the premium wineries are hundreds of miles away. Maybe you've heard of Au Bon Climat or Sanford Winery in Santa Barbara County, for instance. That's about a 400 mile drive from Napa. Most California wineries were not affected by fire or smoke. It's unfortunate that wineries in other parts of the state will still suffer somewhat because of problems far away.

Fires burnt in the hills surrounding Napa Valley, but not the valley floor. But a lot of grapes won't get used this year because of smoke taint. 

Visitation

The perception that Napa burnt down could be a problem in the coming months and even years. Right now, Napa and Sonoma are getting lots of visitors from the Bay Area as these folks tend to understand the geography and know they can still go.

Buying California Wine

There's a fear that the perception of many wine buyers will be that the California wine on the store shelf is bad because of smoke taint. This isn't true. In the future it's possible some wine tainted from the 2020 fires might find it's way onto the shelf, but most wineries are not about to risk the damage to their reputation.