Study: Quake caused at least $83 million in damage to Napa wine industry

The Napa County wine industry suffered at least $83 million in damages from the Aug. 24 earthquake, according to an analysis published Tuesday by Silicon Valley Bank.

The report, presented Tuesday to the Napa County Board of Supervisors at the behest of the Napa Valley Vintners, will assist local efforts to obtain federal disaster relief.

The analysis, by the bank’s wine division, estimated that wine industry losses from the American Canyon temblor would range from $70 million to $100 million.

“I think it’s conservative, a very conservative estimate,” said Rob McMillan, the bank’s executive vice president who conducted the survey. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was $150 million. We are still diagnosing what the financial impact will be.”

The report found other conclusions from the magnitude-6.0 quake. They included:

Sixty percent of Napa County wineries sustained some degree of damage, and up to 25 percent of wineries suffered moderate to severe damage exceeding $50,000 per winery, ranging upwards to $8 million in the most devastating incidents.

Most of the damage was located in the southern and western part of the county and in the city of Napa.

Warehouses and suppliers near the epicenter experienced significantly lower damage than would be expected.

The American Viticultural Areas in the Carneros region of Napa, Mount Veeder, Yountville and Oak Knoll suffered the greatest damage.

Custom crush facilities suffered greater losses, which may trigger additional reviews of their safety and earthquake preparations.

Wine industry officials concede they were extremely lucky that the temblor occurred in the predawn hours when workers were not on site, resulting in no injuries at Napa Valley wineries. In addition, many barrels and tanks were empty prior to the start of harvest for still wine.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.