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The ice cream fire started on September 27 and has since devoured 27,000 hectares. Several of the wineries in the area have gotten in his way.
Vincent Tofanelli, a third-generation winemaker, saw ominous smoke in the distance.
– I knew it was coming, but I could still go in another direction. All I could do, because there was no electricity, so I had no water, was move some things, like tractors, and trust the fire department.
Describe the feeling as a mixture of hopelessness and despair.
– Unfortunately the fire moved very fast during the night (towards Monday). It was catastrophic. Firefighters were able to save a small building, but the rest were lost, he says.
What was destroyed was the house that belonged to his grandfather, who started the business in 1929, as well as a barn and old equipment from the history of the estate.
– Napa Valley has become very modern with luxurious homes. The little farm was part of what it used to be and many people hear from them and say they used to stop by to see what it was like before, says Tofanelli.
90-year-old vines grow in the vineyard. They did it. Creepers are generally fire resistant and can act as barriers to ground fires.
– They did well, so I can continue my agricultural business.
A heat wave in early September caused the grapes to ripen earlier than usual, so they were already harvested. But Tofanelli, which has its own winery and supplies other winemakers, had to send grapes to the lab to make sure they weren’t affected by smoke that swept through the area from a fire in August.
That the grapes were already sold was fortunate, because otherwise they would probably have been lost.
– I think the proximity to the fire had given flavor to the wine, says Vincent Tofanelli and continues:
– I don’t know if we could have gotten back financially after that.
Half the fire out of control
Some wineries in the US state have lost harvests, either because the grapes were damaged or because stocks were destroyed. Others have had equipment and buildings destroyed by fire.