By now, you will almost certainly have heard about the wildfires (once again) impacting Northern California. There are a few things to keep in mind regarding how these fires impact California wine country:
Not all of CA wine country is ablaze. Yes, the impacts are horrifically devastating to many, and the situation is extremely fluid and, buy the time this publishes, undoubtedly will have changed again (hopefully, for the better).
If you are relatively local, you can open your home to evacuees impacted by the fires. If you’re not local, you can of course donate some cash to any of the various relief funds that are actively dealing with the disaster.
Most importantly (in my view), as a wine lover, you should continue to drink and buy wines from the impacted areas (primarily Sonoma County). Not just now, but long after the smoke from these horrendous fires has cleared (and before you ask… harvest is almost totally completed in the impacted areas, so there’s little chance of smoke taint from the current fires making its way into anything that will be bottled with a 2019 vintage on the label). That might be the best way to ensure a speedy recovery for the wine brands that get hit the hardest by the current blazes.
Cheers – and get buying!
Yes – let’s get the word out and help our friends in Cali!
Cheers, Chris