2019 Sonoma Vintage

Before the Kincade fire, the North Coast grape harvest was going smoothly. The growing season had been relatively uneventful, with the exception of late spring rain during bloom in some areas, which would ultimately reduce cluster size for some grape varieties. When the fire sparked on October 23, about 92 percent of Sonoma County's crop, including a lot of the cabernet, had already been picked. Growers harvested another 3 percent before the evacuation orders of October 26. The last 5 percent was cabernet sauvignon in Alexander and Knights valleys. Karissa Kruse of Sonoma County Winegrowers said, "We already had a few nights of frost, so some of those grapes won't be harvested." In early November one grower was still picking some of 250 tons of mostly cabernet sauvignon, with those picks expected to wrap up that week. Most growers and vintners expected a much lower yield than in 2018, when Sonoma County growers picked 275,977 tons.

The fire began in the Mayacamas range on the eastern edge of Alexander Valley. As of its October 25 update, it was limited to the northern part of the county's wine country, a rural, rugged, hilly area rather than the urban areas hit by the fires of 2017. Alexander Valley, known for premium cabernet sauvignon, was most affected, along with the nearby Chalk Hill area. As in 2017, vineyards served as firebreaks and were largely spared, apart from singed vines on property edges. The worst damage came along a nearly 3-mile stretch of Highway 128, where Soda Rock Winery, dating to 1880, was left with only its stone facade visible from the road. The fire circled many Jackson Family Wines properties: its Field Stone Vineyard sustained damage to its barn and winery, while structures at Stonestreet Winery and Vérité estate were unharmed. By November 9 the fire had been declared 100 percent contained.

• Sparked October 23, 2019; evacuations on October 26 forced people out of Windsor and Healdsburg
• Alexander Valley and the Chalk Hill area were most affected; vineyards acted as firebreaks
• Soda Rock Winery on Highway 128 was left with only its stone facade visible from the road
• Sam Bilbro of Idlewild Wines wrote in an email that 6.9 percent of Sonoma County's acreage had burned

The harder work was inside the wineries. A PG&E power shut-off left wineries in Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor relying on generators while winemakers tried to protect fermenting juice from spoiling. At Jordan Vineyard and Winery, Maggie Kruse, working her first vintage there after taking over from longtime winemaker Rob Davis, closed the tops of her two active fermentation tanks and found no traces of smoke taint on returning to the winery. At Ramey Wine Cellars, the sugar by weight in the fermenting cabernet sauvignon was low enough that owner David Ramey could close his fermentation tanks. "No worries, wines are fine," Ramey wrote in an email. Duff Bevill, founder of Bevill Vineyard Management, tested fruit from his vineyards and found low levels of guaiacol, a phenol compound from smoke that accumulates on grape skins and can seep into the pulp; many wineries use it to decide whether to reject grapes for smoke taint. Limerick Lane owner Jake Bilbro told the AP that all of the winery's grapes were harvested and the wines were safe in tanks and barrels in a sealed cellar when the fire began.

• Wineries in Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor ran on generators during the PG&E shut-off
• Jordan's Maggie Kruse found no traces of smoke taint after returning to the winery
• Duff Bevill's fruit tests showed low levels of guaiacol, the smoke-taint marker
• Limerick Lane's grapes were all harvested and the wines sealed in the cellar before the fire

Even before the fire, grape brokers and analysts had warned of an oversupply of grapes because of the record 2018 harvest in Sonoma County and flatlining retail wine sales. In September, some growers worried they would have to leave fruit that was not under any sales contract with a winery on the vines because buyers showed no interest. Buying activity picked up in the final month, as some buyers looked for deep discount buys of less than $1,000 per ton, according to Brian Clements of Turrentine Wine Brokerage.

• Oversupply warnings followed the record 2018 Sonoma County harvest and flatlining retail wine sales
• Some buyers sought deep discount fruit of less than $1,000 per ton (Brian Clements, Turrentine Wine Brokerage)