SONOMA, California – Harvest season in wine country should be a time when tourists flock to enjoy the food, wine and dining offerings of the San Francisco Bay Area. Instead, this year, local businesses are on the brink of disaster.
Following orders placed on the spot due to the coronavirus pandemic, nearly 250 businesses in the Napa and Santa Rosa suburbs have closed permanently since July 10, according to data collected by online rating platform Yelp.
That was before nearly 6,000 lightning strikes in the San Francisco Bay Area exploded earlier this week, counting hundreds of fires, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) spokeswoman Lynette Round.
Photos: Wildfires Rage in Northern California
Several fires burned out of control in the world-famous wine regions of the Napa and Sonoma counties. The 220,000-acre LNU Lightning Complex fire has already claimed four lives, contained 7 percent and threatened more than 30,000 structures.
Among the early victims of the fire was Napa’s oldest family winery, Nichelini Family Winery. Thanks to extensive arson efforts and family members practicing snakes to help, the historic tasting room, built in 1890 largely of redwood, was saved.
“Almost everything around it has burned out,” said Aimée Sunseri, a fifth-generation winemaker. Even irrigation hoses melted with the heat of the fire as it descended Hennessey Ridge Road and toward its 60 acres of unpicked vines.
And business was hard for the fire. Their rehearsal room was forced to close due to the pandemic, and was eventually reopened only for outdoor rehearsals. ‘It’s just like one thing after another … We worry about how things will be in the winter. We do not expect things to change that much. We might have to quit. How do we keep our employees? Frege Sunseri.
‘We have no power. We did not have much water left: all reservoirs were tapped to try to save the property. We are not sure how we will get a harvest. We haven’t even started picking yet, “she told NBC News.
In the 130-year history of the wine cellar, the Nichelini family has never missed a harvest – not even during Prohibition. They are trying to come up with creative solutions to make this happen this year – even if that means trucking in water and a generator.
“We do not know if our vineyards have smoke safety or not. That’s the next big question – are the vineyards okay? “Sunseri sei. But she is determined to make it work – one way or another. “We will do everything we can to make sure we do not break our family tradition,” she said.
This early raging fire season hit wine country just as the harvest was set to begin for many wineries. In the Russian river valley, near the city of Windsor, Bricoleur Vineyards was to have a grand opening of a new tasting room the first weekend in May.
“We have spent four years building, landscaping and building a commercial kitchen. We hired Chef Shane McAnelly on March 15th. But then, two days later, we went into lockdown [because of the pandemic], ”Said Bricoleur founder and CEO Mark Hanson.
They each had to cancel one of their planned 18 events for the year, events that would each have more than 100 guests and mostly won good causes. Although he could not put a number on her loss, Hanson estimates that it affected revenue by at least half.
They have managed to keep their entire staff of 14 people in service and have switched to virtual tastings and food and wine package deliveries, but they have only been able to use their brand new tasting room for three weekends. “We have been experiencing torrential rains since Memorial Day, five days a week. But now we have power outages and fires. ”
The property lost power when the hot wave and lightning strikes pummeled the area, forcing it to close again over the weekend. And then came the Walbridge Fire – which has already burned 21,000 acres, is 0 percent contained, and threatens the cities of Healdsburg, Windsor, Guerneville and Rio Nido. On Thursday morning, when Hanson’s harvest began, his winery was also under an evacuation warning.
“We had smoke and like falling in our courtyard and running the winery,” said Hanson, who again had to close his outdoor storage room himself because the city of Windsor was added to the evacuation list and air quality deteriorated. “The health and safety of everyone is a top priority.”
It was not the year they had planned so hard, but Hanson is still looking forward to reaping the rewards. “It definitely adds a layer of complexity. The key is that we will only harvest if conditions are safe. With COVID-19, there is already a layer of precautionary measures that we do not have to do in the past, ‘he explained, referring to the proliferation of labor, washing equipment more frequently, and wearing gloves. and masks.
“What should be the biggest time of the year for all wineries this fall – harvest season – that is the best and most exciting time to be in wine country!” said Hanson. “Tourism is already down as a result of COVID-19, and fires that have occurred in Sonoma and Napa will make anyone who got a little more nervous.”
‘It’s like all the plagues get us. We can not catch up for a while … we’ve lost the summer. “
Indeed, tourism has remained in Napa and Sonoma counties since the closure began in March. Compared to the previous year, Napa’s hotel occupancy was down 83.9 percent in April and Sonomas’s was down 62.4 percent, according to STR, a hotel analysis firm. Those numbers have improved somewhat in recent months, but turnover is still about half where it was last year.
It is not only beloved wineries that are suffering the consequences of this trifle of weather, health and economic disasters. At the Sonoma Plaza, the historic center of the city of Sonoma, signs reminding residents and visitors to “Wear a Mask” or announcing “You Can’t Quarantine Love” have read new additions “The Love in the Air is Thicker than the Smoke. ”
“It’s like all the plagues we get,” said Heidi Geffen, owner of quirky gift shop “Tiddle E Winks Vintage 5 & Dime” at Sonoma Plaza. She left her store on March 18 when the shelter came into place. “I closed the doors to my shop and I had tears in my eyes when I walked outside because I did not know what was going to happen,” Geffen said.
She has owned and operated the store for 15 years, but now the business is down by half and she had to reduce her hours, she said. She can not afford to pay her employees, so she has been working every day since April, except for one.
‘It’s hard when people don’t come in. It starts to weigh on you. Why am I going in today? It’s really hot. I could see six people today. I can only sit there for so long, ‘said Geffen.
“We can not take a break … we lost the summer,” Geffen said, as fires in all directions around the city of Sonoma burned.
For Geffen, and many other residents of the wine country who have survived year after year of deadly and devastating fires, it now feels like a gamble every night. Referring to the Tubbs Fire in 2017, Geffen reminded him, “I remember going to bed with the fire in Napa that Sunday night in October and thinking, ‘Okay, that’s Napa,’ and then I woke up and it was here. . ‘The Tubbs Fire spread almost to Sonoma last night, leaving many people with no time to escape.
And now, as the LNU Lightning Complex fire has exploded in large numbers and thousands in its path have been evacuated, CalFire Incident Commander Sean Kavanaugh said at a news conference Thursday that they are hoping for more resources, including aircraft.
“Make no mistake about it, we have a very big incident here. Normally, even for us … we are used to a lot of resources, and that’s not where we are today, “Kavanaugh said.” With the number of fires and large fires we have in the entire North- California, we are just one small piece of the bigger, bigger picture that is in that bigger, bigger view, we have to share the resources. “
Despite the uncertainty and the danger of fire, Geffen says she takes it one day at a time and puts on a brave face. ‘People who come in, I think they come in to support me. It brings tears to my eyes, but that’s why you have to come up. You still want to bring a good face and be the best of Sonoma. ”
