Flames also engulfed beloved resorts that were already having a hard year because of Covid-19. Calistoga Ranch, part of Auberge Resorts, is mostly gone. At Meadowood, where the Napa Valley auction has been held since 1981, the restaurant and its three Michelin stars are a pile of ash and rubble. 

Repercussions for the 2020 Vintage
Philippe Melka, a winemaking consultant to three dozen high-profile wineries that include Newton, typically makes about 2,000 cases. This year, he won’t make any. “Smoke is moving around,” he says.  

The chemical compounds in smoke can get into the skin of grapes exposed to it for a period of time, making the resulting wine smell and taste like a wet ashtray. Smoke from the Glass Fire is adding to that of fires last month.

Melka estimates that 80% of vineyards may be affected. Those in the south of Napa, from sub-regions such as Pritchard Hill, Stags Leap, and Mount Veeder may be all right. “But in a year like this,” he says, “who will pay $300 for any wines?” 

About 51% of Napa’s grapes are cabernet, and the expensive wines made from them generate much more revenue than, say, sauvignon blanc. The Napa wine industry contributes roughly $34 billion in revenue to the U.S. economy, and a lot of that comes from cabernet. But Melka doubts that there will be many premium cabernets from elite Napa labels in 2020.

Wines made from white grapes picked before any fires struck will probably be fine. On Diamond Mountain, sparkling wine producer Schramsberg, whose wines have been poured at White House state dinners, were still beating back active fires, but all the chardonnay and pinot noir grapes for the house’s 2020 bubblies have been picked and processed and stashed safely in historic caves.

Many producers are pondering whether they should even bother picking cabernet. For Schramsberg, which bottles under the J. Davies label, the answer is no.

Hourglass Winery, off the Silverado Trail, has also burned. Owner Jeff Smith won’t pick the cabernet from the scorched vineyard, but he will pick those in another location. “We don’t know if the grapes are smoke tainted, because it now takes 24 to 30 days to get results,” he says. “The labs are inundated. The industry has never had anything like this amount of smoke.” Smith has no idea how much wine he’ll end up with. If he’s very lucky, he’ll manage half. None is also possible.

Spottswoode, just on the edge of St. Helena, makes particularly elegant cabernets. Owner Beth Milliken has sent samples to labs in Australia and British Columbia.“I honestly can’t predict whether we will or will not release a Spottswoode Cabernet from 2020,” she says.

It’s not just this year’s wine that’s under threat. In some vineyards, such as those at Melka Estate, the fire blackened vines and charred the soil beneath them. Those vines will probably have to be replanted.