In 2017, the Nuns Fire torched over 55,000
acres in Sonoma County, while the Tubbs fire attacked a densely populated
35,000. Over the Mayacamas mountains the Atlas Fire burned 50,000 acres around
Napa. Two years later, the Kincade fire destroyed nearly 80,000 acres. Seven of
the most devastating ten wine country fires in history have occurred in the
last four years alone, prompting questions about whether climate change is
creating a new normal for the residents of California wine country.
I remember the onset of the Atlas
fire. I woke up on a Monday morning to no power, and a dozen texts from friends
and family asking if I needed somewhere to stay. Confused, I looked outside while
loading the news on my phone. There was the faint smell of a dead fireplace in
the air, and on the northern horizon I saw a thick gray line. Over the next 24
hours, we waited for updates from school, and deliberated whether evacuation
was the right response or an overreaction. All the while, the thick gray line crept
closer and grew larger until we had to hold wet rags over our mouths even indoors.
I left St. Helena with a quarter tank of gas, a few important possessions, and
returned a week later. I was lucky: I didn’t own a home or a business. Many
others were not so fortunate; they lost the work years, or lifetimes.
Although the most recent fire was
now months ago, the process of assessing the damages and recouping losses is an
ongoing one. While PG&E goes through bankruptcy restructuring, the introduction
of additional lawsuit is on hold; come June, Sonoma County is expected to file
a new one in June. Meanwhile, wine company Vintage Wine Estates and smaller
producer Kunde Winery are suing their insurance companies for refusing to
compensate them for the smoke damage to their fruit. After the initial panic of
torched homes and vineyards, these trickle-down effect begin to surface: the
impaired marketability of wine that may display smoke taint, the millions of dollars
in lost tourism revenue (for the restaurants, wineries, and retail) during the periods
when the fires were raging or the power was off to prevent a spark.
Scientists are now researching links
between global climate change and the proliferation of these fires; the
increase in temperature and the persistent dryness are clear connections. Scientists
are exploring the impact of wind patterns as well, and considering whether preventative
steps might be taken on this front to mitigate risks of setting off the tinderbox.
Winemakers, meanwhile, are exploring a number of coping methods. Though
mid-Western farmers tend to exhibit strong opposition to environmental
regulation, grape farmers and winemakers in Napa have become advocates for
change, hoping to slow the temperature increase and stave off further erosion
of their previously idyllic conditions. However, they are also reconciling themselves
with the fact that change with this momentum may be inevitable, and are now
considering whether they should change their planting strategy: by testing
heat-friendly varietals such as zinfandel, touriga nacional, tempranillo, and
aglianico. Especially on a global scale, they are also considering new vineyard
site locations: higher elevations and farther from the equator. For some, such
as English sparkling winemakers, the climate change does offer potential; for
most, however, it offers uncertainty and the fear that the terroir of some of
the world’s most cherished sites is collapsing as we watch. In a follow up conversation with Tripp Donelan about the role of winemakers in mitigating environmental damage, he emphasized the gravity of the situation: we had to do something, he said, because "the world is on fire."
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