TRAGIC FIRES RAVAGE WINE COUNTRY

IT’S A DEVASTATING time in California as raging wildfires in wine country earlier in October have claimed many lives, decimated more than 57 OO homes and businesses and forced thousands to flee.  In addition, several wineries were destroyed.  Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa has burned down as has Nicholson Ranch in Sonoma and Frey Vineyards in Mendocino County’s Redwood Valley, known for producing organic and biodynamic wines.  The Atlas Fire raged through Napa’s famed Stag’s Leap District and at least one winery, Signorello Estates, was destroyed.  Buildings at nearby Stags’ Leap Winery burned, too.  The fires will have a massive impact on the wine industry, with Napa Valley wine country the epicenter of the country’s industry.  For vineyards that have been completely destroyed and need to be replanted, it will take three to five years for the vineyards to bear fruit, and at wineries where the vineyards escaped fire damage, smoke could still taint the grapes.  At this time of year, wineries are mainly done with their harvests, and thousands of bottles of inventory and vintages of wine in barrels have likely been destroyed.  Wineries in Napa Valley employ 46,OOO people and in 2O16, more than 3.5 million people visited the region, bringing in $8O.3 million in tax revenue.