Where rolling hills draped with green Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and luxury vineyard estates once stood, remain thirsty landscapes populated by scorched vines, burnt buildings and sparse vegetation.
Some charred berries hang on the vines that the fire has spared. The wildfires, which have been raging in California for more than a week have caused widespread devastation in both Napa and Sonoma counties, the world-famous wine regions and popular tourist destinations just north of San Francisco. These infernos - which now have been contained by more than 8,000 firefighters - burned more than 6,000 structures (homes and businesses), nearly 200,000 acres of land and reportedly killed more than 40 people, to date, with casualties expected to rise.
“This is one of the largest wildfires affecting vineyards ever,” says Dennis Mah, Winery Team Lead from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) North America, based in San Francisco. “It will be a large loss for the valley’s wineries and possibly also for the wine lovers in the U.S.” Californian vineyards and wineries produce an average of 85 percent of total U.S. wine production.