Point Fire in Northern California Injures 1 Firefighter and Endangers Vines in A-List Wine Region

A series of fires are plaguing California, ranging from the Post Fire (pictured) in Southern California, to the Point Fire, which is threatening vineyards in Sonoma County. (Photo: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

The Press Democrat reported on Tuesday that the Point Fire, a wildfire burning near Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley wine region, is threatening vines from some prestigious wineries.

The Point Fire is Sonoma County’s first wildfire of the season, which typically runs from June through November. The blaze began Sunday afternoon near Lake Sonoma and grew to over 1,000 acres. Evacuation orders were issued to several wineries including Bella Vineyards & Wine Caves, Raymond Burr Vineyards, A. Rafanelli Winery and Mercury Wine according to Eater San Francisco.

“We want to make sure our people are safe and then our wines and our vineyards are safe,” Quivira Vineyards Winemaker Hugh Chapelle said, according to the Press Democrat. “But people first, of course.”

Quivira Vineyards is one of the wineries close to the blaze, and the Press Democrat reported that Chapelle is simply “focusing on what he can control.”

Seventy wineries and 150 winegrowers reside within the fertile slopes of The Dry Creek Valley, and the region makes 3.2 million cases of wine a year, per a report from the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley.

Some wineries nearby that are situated outside the evacuation zone decided to shutter their doors on Monday because of the thick smoke within the region.

Fortunately, the Executive Director of the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley Lauren Fremont said on Monday the damage was minimal, though they are still assessing the full scope of it.

“In the context of the 10,000 acres of vines we have, it’s quite small,” Fremont mused to the Press Democrat.

CBS News reported on Monday that Sonoma County declared a state of local emergency, which would make room for federal aid. The news station reported that one firefighter had to be hospitalized for injuries sustained on Sunday from fighting the blaze.

According to CBS News, Cal Fire informed the station that the firefighter injured their neck and still remains hospitalized. Cal Fire reported that the fire was 20% contained and that a minimum of 400 firefighters were attempting to battle the blaze.

Two residential buildings were destroyed by the Point Fire, and officials continue to assess the damage.

The challenges remain in place for Northern California firefighters, as new fires broke out in Manteca, Colusa and Calaveras counties on Monday afternoon, according to CBS.

A Forecast on California Fire Season and What it Means for Wineries

On Tuesday, ABC News reported that wildfire season is off to an “unusually early start” in the Golden State. Often fueled by dry grasses, forests and Santa Ana or Diablo wind gusts, California wildfires can cause millions of dollars in damage and have deadly repercussions, like the Camp Fire which took place in Butte County in November 2018 and claimed 86 lives.

For the Point Fire, Wine-Searcher reported that vineyards tend to be fire resistant due to the vines being filled with reserves of water in their roots, yet a lot of the vines in Dry Creek Valley are dry-farmed, which means that water will be in short supply.

Wine-Searcher claimed the Point Fire is the earliest major wildfire to hit Sonoma County since 2016. Hazardous conditions have been brewing for some time now, with heavy rains from the winter leading to lush vegetation followed by a period of harsh, blistering heat.

Northern California’s wine-growing region was under a red-flag fire warning due to the dry and windy weather.

Wildfires often threaten wineries in multiple ways, ranging from actual losses to smoke taint. Smoke taint can occur when the grapes are exposed to heavy smoke and yields an off taste in wine.

Decanter claims that wineries are figuring out strategies to manage the disastrous repercussions of California wildfires, such as installing filters to protect wines from smoke, operating out of other wineries as they rebuild, and rebuilding with non-flammable materials. Still, it’s an uphill battle for an industry and region amid an existential crisis due to volatile sales, shifts in demand and newer, cheaper emerging regions.

As of now, it appears the 2024 fire season is shaping up to be a fairly robust one and might just throw another obstacle in the struggling wine region’s path.

In Southern California, the New York Times reported that The Post Fire was burning at 14,000 acres, and experts claim this year’s fire season could be particularly hazardous throughout the state.

“This is a taste of what’s to come,” climate scientist for the University of California Los Angeles Daniel Swain said to the New York Times.

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