Vineyards assess damage as wildfire rips through California wine country: ‘a devastating situation’

The growing threat of fires has shaken the Napa valley wine industry, as fears of smoke-spoiled grapes and soaring insurance rates put vintners on edge

Elton Slone and his colleagues at the Robert Craig Winery in Napa valley had gathered for their annual pre-harvest company party last week - complete with copper pot carnitas and grape tacos - when one of his co-workers noticed an alert on her phone. The Pickett fire, a blaze that had started about 10 miles (16km) away near the town of Calistoga, was moving toward their vineyards on Howell Mountain.

Knowing that the Glass fire - a 2020 blaze that damaged numerous wineries and spoiled a year's harvest - had burned along the same path, Slone hoped no fuel remained for this new fire. But that was not the case," he said. Within the week, the winery's Candlestick Vineyard would become a sacrificial lamb for the town of Angwin" when firefighters lit a controlled burn on their property to control the larger fire.