In recent years, the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires have posed significant challenges for winemakers and grape growers. One of the most pressing issues is the impact of smoke exposure on grapes, which can lead to undesirable flavors and aromas in the resulting wines. This document aims to provide winemakers and grape growers with a general understanding of their options for evaluating smoke-tainted grapes. “With localized testing now available at ETS, a winemaker can make more informed decisions on whether to harvest the grapes or write them off,” says General Manager Kyle Crowley of VA Filtration USA. By exploring various assessment methods and mitigation strategies, the industry can make informed decisions to ensure the quality and marketability of their wines despite the challenges posed by smoke exposure. Pre-Harvest: Pull grape (berries) samples to test before harvesting all your grapes for fermentation production. ETS offers an excellent smoke panel t

Let’s look at some maps Last week I was in the middle of writing a post about how great this year was turning out. I thought, just as long as growers can avoid something disastrous, this could be a great vintage. Within 24 hours, the Pickett fire grew from a small blaze north of Calistoga to a towering wildfire that has since consumed 6000 acres. Of course, this comes on the heels of the Gifford fire in San Luis Obispo, which has taken out over 100k acres the week before. For some growers in Napa and Edna valley, harvest may be over before it starts. While the definitive kibosh will come from lab analysis, knowing how smokey it got and when is useful for metering expectations and determining the next step. And there are some super useful tools out there! The EPA has a wide network of air quality sensors throughout the country with varying degrees of concentration. The map below shows just how many of these stations are publicly available, so you can see where air quality is suffe

Ensuring Resilience: Navigating Wildfire Risks in the Winery Industry (Expert Editorial)

Wineries are working together to ensure properties are fire safe by fostering a resilient, fire-aware community. By Larry Chasin   The winery industry has undergone significant changes in response to […]

Heffernan Insurance Brokers show the fully equipped, customizable WASP trailers with tools critical to protect your property from wildfire in 2024. To schedule a private demo, text WASP DEMO to (707) 789-3062 and Ember Defense will bring the trailer to your property!

Understand what moves the needle for insurance companies and concrete actions you can take to reduce your winery’s wildfire risk, increase wildfire resilience, and manage your overall risk. This webinar will provide an update on the marketplace with wildfire best practices from the Heffernan Wine Team and will feature Peter Michael Winery. Stuart Bockman, GM of Peter Michael Winery in Calistoga, will share their new wildfire mitigation protocols and how that has enabled them to procure Insurance amidst an insurance crisis.

Join us Thursday for a WIN Webinar: CFO Power Hour! Beating the Insurance Crisis; A Case Study with Peter Michael Winery

By Shannon Antonini, VP, Customer Risk Management As wildfires threaten communities in California and beyond, many grape growers have faced a difficult 2020 harvest made even more challenging by the fast-moving fires and smoke that has filled the region. Even for the vineyards that have been spared from the ravages of fire, extreme smoke conditions can taint the grapes. As a general recommendation, producers who believe their crop has been impacted by fire, smoke or excessive heat should file a crop insurance claim with their crop insurance agent. To provide further guidance for our customers and other grape growers, we have compiled some of the most common questions about smoke taint and crop insurance. All policyholders who believe their crop has been impacted should contact their insurance agent immediately upon recognizing potential impact and open a notice of damage. A notice of damage is to be filed by the policyholder within 72 hours of the policyholder’s initial disc

When disaster strikes, you do what comes naturally. And when you’ve been around as a viable business since 1861, there’s some deep-rooted innate corporate wisdom that rises to the fore, ready to fight on to face another day... The post Charles Krug Winery Hosts Basecamp for PG&E to Assist Firefight appeared first on Wine Industry Advisor. Url:https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2020/10/05/charles-krug-basecamp-pge-firefight?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=charles-krug-basecamp-pge-firefight Published Date:Mon, 05 Oct 2020 20:00:06 +0000