Storm topples 275-year-old Napa Valley oak at V. Sattui Winery

We’ve seen fire and now we’ve seen rain, as Napa Valley’s latest casualty from Mother Nature’s storm wrath is a 275-year-old oak tree that has shaded picnickers through the years at V. Sattui Winery in St. Helena.

The tree came toppling to the ground at 4 a.m. Monday.

“It’s been so sad around here. That tree has been so much more than just a tree,” V. Sattui President Tom Davies told the Business Journal on Tuesday morning.

In 2020, winery namesake and longtime vintner, Dario Sattui, saw his prized Castello di Amorosa resembling a Tuscan castle in Calistoga sustain damage when the massive Glass Fire jumped Highway 29, also in the morning, taking out the winery’s farmhouse. With that, more than 100,000 bottles of wine valued at least $5 million were destroyed in the aftermath. The fire consumed more than 1,500 structures over more than 67,000 acres.

“We can make more wine. With this tree, there’s more to it,” Davies said, reflecting on the valley wineries’ disasters.

Even with the old oak being healthy and cabled to stabilize its large stature, it crashed to the winery grounds known for hosting an average of more than 60 weddings a year. The devastation took out a pizza oven and a few picnic tables in its wake.

Davies estimated the cost of the falling at $35,000, if one takes into account the tree’s arborist services the winery has used for the last four decades. But he stressed the tree’s value goes way beyond the money.

“That tree was priceless,” he said.

V. Sattui has no final plans on what happens now with the grounds, but a few ideas are floating around.

“We need shade. We need to do something,” Davies said, adding he believes the next chapter for the grounds will involve a way to memorialize the tree as one of its own.

“I’m not sure, maybe we’ll turn it into a wine bar,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson provided some advance inspiration because he was in the same boat years ago. The St. Helena Democrat said “it was heartbreaking,” when he lost a 400-year-old oak tree at his home a few years ago. He turned a section of a limb into an anvil stand.

“It is sad to see the beautiful tree at V. Sattui come down due to the storm,” he told the Business Journal. “I look forward to seeing how the staff at V. Sattui memorializes the tree, and I hope it provides them some comfort in knowing that it will live on in their memory.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to provide U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson’s reaction.

Susan Wood covers law, cannabis, production, tech, energy, transportation, agriculture, banking and finance. For 27 years, Susan has worked for a variety of publications including the North County Times, Tahoe Daily Tribune and Lake Tahoe News. Reach her at 530-545-8662 or susan.wood@busjrnl.com