Napa Valley was shaken and stirred at 3:20 a.m. Sunday by an earthquake that measured 6.0 on the Richter scale – the most severe in northern California in 25 years. For the wine industry, at least the timing was fairly fortunate.
Authorities said more than 120 people sought minor medical care and that a child was in critical condition after being crushed by a fireplace. California governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in the wake of the 3:20 am quake, which ignited fires, burst water mains, caused gas leaks and even cracked roads.
The US Geological Service said the quake was the most powerful to hit the San Francisco Bay area since the 1989 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake.
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One-fourth of Napa city lost power, and many Napa residents may be without water for a week. Economically, some wineries will suffer severe losses from cracked barrels that contained well-regarded 2013 vintage wines.
But, fortunately, most wineries had barely started harvesting grapes, which means most tanks are still empty. Had the earthquake happened a month from now, the sewage system may have run red with fermenting Merlot.
Moreover, almost every winery has bottled its 2012 red wines. It may be counterintuitive to think of thousands of glass bottles as earthquake-safe, but when they are in pallets and prepared to be handled by truckers, they are less vulnerable to earthquakes than barrels stacked to the ceiling or giant tanks full of wine.
"We had a lot of stuff on the floor, broken glass in the lab and visitor center," said T.J. Evans, winemaker at Domaine Carneros, which is near the epicenter. "Our harvest is about 90 percent over so we had all the tanks full and fermenting. If you can imagine a 6000-gallon tank full and fermenting, it's like shaking up a giant can of Coca Cola. We're very lucky."
The quake was Napa's worst since a 5.2 in the year 2000. This one was actually centered in American Canyon, just south of the city of Napa and the site of some large wine warehouses. But those are recently built and earthquake-sturdy.
In contrast, an old building at Trefethen Family Vineyards, about seven miles north of the city of Napa, was visibly bulging and leaning to the right, and sheriff's deputies were not allowing people to enter.
At Hess Collection's Mount Veeder facility, two 20,000-liter tanks filled with 2013 Cabernet "crumpled and spilled all into the courtyard, losing perhaps about half the vintage," spokesman Jim Caudill told Wine Searcher.
Hess Collection also has a terrific art collection in its tasting room, and Caudill said some works were knocked off the walls and damaged.
Across the Sonoma County line in Glen Ellen, B.R. Cohn winemaker Tom Montgomery told the Associated Press that the winery had lost "as much as 50 percent" of its wine, mainly from barrel damage.
Several small wineries store their wines in barrel at a Napa warehouse, where the barrels looked like bowling pins in a photo tweeted by Lagier-Meredith winemaker Carole Meredith. The scene was similar at nearby Saintsbury and Bouchaine wineries, with barrels all over the floor. However, it is too soon for many winemakers to assess their losses, because a barrel that falls on the floor is not a loss unless it cracks open.
As for wine consumers, the quake is unlikely to impact anyone other than wine club members who might not be able to get a 2013 version of a favorite wine. The 2013 vintage was the largest in California history, and it came after a similar record-breaking vintage in 2012. The earthquake will do little to affect wine supplies.
Ryan O’Connell, winemaker and marketing manager for Naked Wines in Napa said the damage was thankfully limited.
"Our Napa tasting lounge is a wreck but we're very thankful that the winery in Kenwood Sonoma is fine. Our top priority now is contacting all of our angel-funded winemakers and making sure everybody is safe. It's the middle of harvest so we're moving very fast and we have to force ourselves to take a moment to slow down and take in the full consequences of the quake."
Marc Mondavi, co-owner of Charles Krug Winery, was at a birthday party Sunday attended by several local winemakers. He said most agreed that they were fortunate, both from the timing of the earthquake and even the severity.
"If it had been a little stronger, who knows how much damage would have happened," Mondavi said. "Had this happened November 1, when we're done with harvest, who knows what would have happened. This is mother nature. We're farmers. We'll deal with it."
