Silverado Trail wineries in Napa Valley threatened by Glass fire during key part of 2020 harvest

CALISTOGA — The Silverado Trail on the last Sunday in September would typically be a place where well-heeled tourists would enjoy late season wine tastings and harvest crews would be readying for the picks of Napa Valley’s king fruit, cabernet sauvignon.

But on this Sunday there was none of it along the north end of the trail, bordering the hills of the Vaca Range. By nightfall, the Glass fire was perilously close to prime vineyards.

Fire trucks sped along the roadway and helicopters buzzed overhead. The pesky fire triggered a large billow of smoke over a swath of prime vineyard acreage at the most inopportune time.

Starting before dawn and until late Sunday afternoon, firefighters were able to keep the blaze at bay along the hills. They prevented it from encroaching notable wineries along the Silverado Trail, such as Rombauer Estates, Duckhorn Vineyards and the Davis Estate, where the edge of the fire lingered on a hill about 100 yards above the winery.

However, by 7:30 p.m. wind gusts pushed flames down the mountain ridges toward the trail. Glass Mountain Road was a sea of orange. Firefighters worked feverishly as flames approached Duckhorn and Boeschen Vineyards.

During the day, in front of the Davis Estate, Doug Grandbois of Cal Fire was monitoring a crew of 50 firefighters along the ridge who were accompanied by bulldozers to create fire breaks to protect the winery. Helicopters, which dangled large buckets from a line, would swoop over nearby and douse hot spots. They would then fly to nearby ponds to pick up more water and circle back in a loop.

The terrain above Davis Estate was so steep bulldozers could not get to certain areas, so Cal Fire had to rely on firefighters on the ground working in heat that approached 100 degrees.

“I’m just standing here as a lookout, so in case something stupid happens here that they don’t burn up my crews,” Grandbois said.

The big concern was wind direction. “I just don’t want them to commit too far in without having secured (an escape) behind them,” he said. “If (the wind) pushes it downhill, we will just change tactics … that’s the last resort at the moment.”

Grandbois was encouraged the helicopters were able to get out early in the morning to start fighting the fire that ignited about 4 a.m., and the fact that vineyards usually serve as natural fire breaks.

“It’s kind of like eating an elephant; it’s just one bite at a time,” he said.

The Rombauer winery, which is noted for its world-class chardonnay, had not sustained any damage on the property as of Sunday at 5 p.m., said Carrie Reed, winery spokeswoman. Crews could be seen busily putting out nearby hot spots.

Overall, 64 Napa Valley wineries are located within the evacuation or evacuation warning areas, according to Napa County Office of Emergency Services.

The fire comes at a time when Napa County wineries have begun to pick their cabernet sauvignon, the priciest grape in the United States. Last year, the average value of the fruit was about $8,000 per ton.

And if Glass fire flames destroy any of these Wine Country vineyards in Napa it could cause outlandish property losses. Consider that planted vineyards in Napa can sell for $350,000 to $1 million an acre, while such acreage in Sonoma County goes for $85,000 to $300,000, Atlas Vineyard Management in Napa told Worth magazine in a September 2019 article.

On Sunday night as the winds intensified, the big concern among Napa vintners is how much damage will be done to grapevines and how smoke taint will affect the crop, especially since some vineyards already suffered grape damage from the Hennessey fire in August. Early in the day, at least one vineyard along the Silverado Trail had shriveled fruit hanging from the vine.

The trail was eerily quiet outside of fire emergency vehicles and private fire crews. The private crews have become more ubiquitous in the area in recent years. They’re hired by insurance companies to help protect multimillion-dollar estates from burning.

In nearby St. Helena, there appeared to be few tourists. Market restaurant on Main Street had a “fair amount” of cancellations for brunch, but so far none for dinner, general manager Michael Martin said.

“We’re just going to roll through and see what happens,” Martin said. “It’s like what we have done throughout this whole thing.”

The one place where there was a significant crowd was along Highway 29, where residents parked their cars along the side of the main Napa County thoroughfare Sunday afternoon to capture photos and videos of the Glass fire. Many stopped in front of the iconic Napa Valley sign welcoming guests “to this world famous wine growing region.”

Jim Morris, vice president of estate management at Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, noted the irony of people posing in front of the sign since tourism has suffered greatly this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and wildfires.

“Nothing says Wine Country vacation like a photo in a conflagration,” Morris wrote in an Instagram post.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.