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Northern California wine country back open for business
Following the wildfires that swept through northern California killing 42 people and damaging wineries and vineyards, the message from businesses is that they are back open for business.
Photo: Instagram @teaffcateringnapa
It has been reported that 42 people have lost their lives in the wildfires that began to sweep through California wine country on Sunday 8 October causing damage and destroying properties and vines in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Solano and Lake Counties.
Napa Valley Vintners has reported that out of 330 member wineries, 47 reported direct damage from the fires, while it is thought that across the entire region, less than 10 wineries have been either heavily damaged or completely destroyed.
Among the wineries known to have been most severely damaged are Signorello in Napa, Paradise Ridge in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, and Paras Vineyards in Mount Veeder, Napa.
Cal Fire reported yesterday that 93% of the fires had now been contained that have burned an area of more than 200,000 acres. At the peak, 11,000 firefighters battled 21 major wildfires that forced 100,000 people to evacuate and destroyed an estimated 8,700 structures. NASA has released a new aerial image showing the extent of the damage.
Photo: Instagram @cakebreadcellars
The message, however, coming from California wine country is one of resolve to get back to business.
Yesterday, five Napa Valley mayors, two Napa county supervisors and state senator Bill Dodd invited the media to ride the famous Napa Wine Train in an effort to boost tourism to the region.
Speaking at the event, Dodd said: “It’s very important to the local economy, all the cities and the counties are very much open for business”.
On the trip, a total of 65 paying passengers boarded the train, out of a total passenger capacity of 370.
Speaking to KTVU about the misconceptions regarding air quality and the percentage of wineries destroyed, Wine Train owner Scott Goldie said: “As you can see today, the air quality is great; it has been and will be. And the Valley floor, which is what visitors really experience, is completely intact”.
Goldie also revealed that passenger volume was 75% down on what he would expect from a typical October.
Kind of empty inside the #Napa @winetrain. This should be peak season. #ABC7now They’re down 75% from a typical October. pic.twitter.com/95e8GX6GPg
— Wayne Freedman (@WayneFreedman) October 27, 2017
Napa mayor Jill Techel added: “I think you gain if you come right now. You’re more likely to get into the restaurants you couldn’t normally get into in October. You’re gonna get into hotels that you wouldn’t be able to get up and just say, ‘I’ll go to Napa today and the wineries are the same wine.’”
In a press release from the California Association of Boutique and Breakfast Inns, owner of The Beazley House Bed & Breakfast Inn in Napa, Jim Beazley, confirmed that the city of Napa was never evacuated and phone lines, power and services were neither lost nor disconnected.
In a statement he said: “Of the 450-plus wineries in Napa Valley, only seven wineries were severely damaged or lost. Over 99% of Napa’s wineries remain open”.
To find out how to help the relief effort, please click here.
On the #Napa @winetrain, mayors of @YountvilleCA & @VisitCalistoga toast to #napafire recovery. #openforbusiness Image by @finktravels pic.twitter.com/4KYjiBGPuk
— Wine Train (@winetrain) October 26, 2017