AMERICAN RESILIENCE: How Napa and Sonoma brought back tourists after some of the most destructive fires in California's history swept through wine country in 2017

Melissa WileyJul 2, 2020, 03:58 IST

Napa County firefighter Jason Sheumann sprays water on a home as he battles flames from a wildfire on October 9, 2017, in Napa, California.AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

In October 2017, wildfires raged across northern California, burning over 245,000 acres.
Two of the fires that impacted the tourism-reliant Napa and Sonoma wine regions were among the most destructive in California's history.
While most wineries and businesses in Napa and Sonoma remained unscathed, images of blazes circulated by news outlets and on social media led visitors to question the region's safety and cancel trips.
For the past three years, tourism officials and residents have worked to combat these images and remind visitors that wine country is open for business.
Wine country's resilience has been tested yet again during the coronavirus pandemic, but lessons learned from the wildfires have prepared residents to adapt to changing circumstances.
Here's a closer look at how Napa and Sonoma have persisted as tourist destinations.

California's Napa and Sonoma wine regions are home to over 900 wineries. They attract millions of tourists per year.

Visitors take a photo next to the Napa Valley "welcome" sign on October 15, 2015. George Rose/Getty Images

Sonoma and Napa drew 10.8 million and 3.85 million visitors respectively in 2018. For the past three years, the tourism-reliant regions have been working in overdrive to rebrand themselves in the wake of wildfire destruction.

The Napa Valley Wine Train transports passengers to 33 wineries and vineyards on its 36-mile journey through Napa County. Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Sonoma and Napa drew 10.8 million and 3.85 million visitors respectively in 2018. For the past three years, the tourism-reliant regions have been working in overdrive to rebrand themselves in the wake of wildfire destruction.

In 2017, over 170 wildfires raged across northern California. Known as the October Fire Siege, the fires began on October 8 and burned across 245,000 acres — almost eight times the size of San Francisco — before they were contained toward the end of the month.

Fire consumes a barn as an out of control wildfire moves through the area on October 9, 2017 in Glen Ellen, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty

In 2017, over 170 wildfires raged across northern California. Known as the October Fire Siege, the fires began on October 8 and burned across 245,000 acres — almost eight times the size of San Francisco — before they were contained toward the end of the month.

In total, the fires killed 44 people and destroyed 8,900 homes and buildings — 5,200 in Sonoma alone.

An aerial photo taken over Mark West Estates on November 5, 2017 shows destruction in Santa Rosa, California. George Rose/Getty Image

Two of the fires that affected Napa and Sonoma — the Tubbs and Nuns fires — were among the most destructive in California's history, according to a 2019 report by the Los Angeles Times.

A row of chimneys stands in a neighborhood devastated by the Tubbs fire near Santa Rosa, California on Oct. 13, 2017. Jae C. Hong/AP Photo

Two of the fires that affected Napa and Sonoma — the Tubbs and Nuns fires — were among the most destructive in California's history, according to a 2019 report by the Los Angeles Times.

Wine country hadn't seen fires as large and destructive as the ones in 2017 since 1996, the LA Times reported.

Cal Fire forester Kim Sone inspects damage at homes destroyed by fires in Santa Rosa, California on October 12, 2017. Jeff Chiu/AP

The scale and unprecedented nature of the October Fire Siege prompted a flurry of media reports that were saturated with images of smoke and destruction, according to analysis by the Washington Post, LA Times, and other publications after the fact.

The fire-ravaged Signorello Estate winery is seen through a window on October 9, 2017, in Napa, California. Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo

The scale and unprecedented nature of the October Fire Siege prompted a flurry of media reports that were saturated with images of smoke and destruction, according to analysis by the Washington Post, LA Times, and other publications after the fact.

Less than two dozen wineries experienced significant damage, 99.8% of northern California vineyards came away unscathed, and most hotels remained intact. Tourists, however, stayed away.

The sun shines through smoke from the Atlas Fire behind grape vines on October 11, 2017 near Napa, California. David McNew/Getty

Less than two dozen wineries experienced significant damage, 99.8% of northern California vineyards came away unscathed, and most hotels remained intact. Tourists, however, stayed away.

Seventy-one percent of winery and vineyard stakeholders in Napa and Sonoma surveyed by Sonoma State University's Wine Business Institute after the fires reported "an immediate drop in tasting room traffic."

An area resident evacuates his Silverado Trail home as flames from a wildfire approach on October. 9, 2017, in Napa, California. Rich Pedroncelli/AP

Seventy-one percent of winery and vineyard stakeholders in Napa and Sonoma surveyed by Sonoma State University's Wine Business Institute after the fires reported "an immediate drop in tasting room traffic."

The decline in visitor numbers worried tourism officials and local business owners in Napa and Sonoma. Tourism is among the regions' top revenue sources, generating several billion dollars in tourist dollars in 2016.

A hot air balloon flies over Napa Valley. Anna Rottke/Shutterstock

The decline in visitor numbers worried tourism officials and local business owners in Napa and Sonoma. Tourism is among the regions' top revenue sources, generating several billion dollars in tourist dollars in 2016.

To urge visitors back, residents and businesses began posting signs with messages like "The Love in the Air Is Thicker Than the Smoke" and sharing updates on social media using the hashtags #NapaStrong and #SonomaStrong.

In late October, local officials rode the Napa Valley Wine Train, which reported a 75% decrease in passenger volume, to show that wine country was open for business.

Visit California also joined the efforts, launching a $2 million #CaliforniaWineCountryNow campaign that kicked off with a fundraising dinner hosted by Food Network Chef Tyler Florence on November 21.

In the months that followed, images of rebuilding started to emerge. On the one-year anniversary of the fires, Wine Spectator published an article on winery and vineyard owners turning the fires into an opportunity to grow and innovate.

Signorello Estate Winery winemaker Pierre Birebent is photographed in Napa, California, on October 2, 2018. Anda Chu/Digital First Media/The Mercury News/Getty Images

In the months that followed, images of rebuilding started to emerge. On the one-year anniversary of the fires, Wine Spectator published an article on winery and vineyard owners turning the fires into an opportunity to grow and innovate.

By the end of 2018, Napa and Sonoma reported that visitor numbers and spending were on pace with previous years ⁠— but achieving those results took work.

A road passes through vineyards in Sonoma County, California. Shutterstock

Though tourism numbers rebounded, wine country isn't in the clear: Major fires swept through neighboring Mendocino wine region in July-August 2018, and through Sonoma in October 2019.

A firefighter tends to a structure lost during the Kincade fire off Highway 128, east of Healdsburg, California on October 29, 2019. Philip Pacheco/AFP/Getty Images

Though tourism numbers rebounded, wine country isn't in the clear: Major fires swept through neighboring Mendocino wine region in July-August 2018, and through Sonoma in October 2019.

Former California Governor Jerry Brown deemed the uptick in wildfires across the state the "new abnormal."

Firefighters watch as an air tanker drops fire retardant to protect homes near Lakeport, California, on August 2, 2018. REUTERS/Fred Greaves

This past October, Pacific Gas & Electric announced that it would be instituting rolling blackouts over the next 10 years in wine country, prompting new concerns from locals and tourism officials that visitors would be reminded of the possibility for disaster.

A view of power lines during a Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) public safety power shutoff on November 20, 2019, in Santa Rosa, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

This past October, Pacific Gas & Electric announced that it would be instituting rolling blackouts over the next 10 years in wine country, prompting new concerns from locals and tourism officials that visitors would be reminded of the possibility for disaster.

Yet business owners continue to adapt. Some wineries are investing in back-up generators. Others are getting creative, hosting candle-lit dinners or moving tastings outside during power cuts.

"We're a strong, resilient community with so much heart," Dominic Foppoli, the mayor of Windsor, a town in Sonoma, told Wine Spectator in November. "This has brought us together and made us so much stronger."

A vineyard worker at Martinelli Winery sits on a bucket while pruning a chardonnay grapevine on April 24, 2017, in Windsor, California. George Rose/Getty Images

"We're a strong, resilient community with so much heart," Dominic Foppoli, the mayor of Windsor, a town in Sonoma, told Wine Spectator in November. "This has brought us together and made us so much stronger."

That strength seems to have served wine country during its latest obstacle: the coronavirus pandemic.

A view of the vineyards at Castello di Amorosa winery in Napa Valley. Melia Robinson/Business Insider

Take Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa, for example, which reopened in December 2019 for the first time since the 2017 fires, only to close its doors a few months later due to California's stay-at-home restrictions.

Paradise Ridge co-owner Rene Byck walks through the vineyards of their winery on October 1 2018, in Santa Rosa, California. The Tubbs Fire family's destroyed the family's winery one year prior. Aric Crabb/Digital First Media/The Mercury News via Getty Images

Take Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa, for example, which reopened in December 2019 for the first time since the 2017 fires, only to close its doors a few months later due to California's stay-at-home restrictions.

Paradise Ridge has pivoted its business to include virtual tastings, local deliveries, and most recently, socially distanced in-person tastings. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, co-owner Rene Byck suggested that past tribulations made the transition easier. "It's not the first time we've had to think about how to adapt," he said.

29 Sephora employees reveal the one product you should buy

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

AMERICAN RESILIENCE: How Napa and Sonoma brought back tourists after some of the most destructive fires in California's history swept through wine country in 2017

California's Napa and Sonoma wine regions are home to over 900 wineries. They attract millions of tourists per year.

Sonoma and Napa drew 10.8 million and 3.85 million visitors respectively in 2018. For the past three years, the tourism-reliant regions have been working in overdrive to rebrand themselves in the wake of wildfire destruction.

In 2017, over 170 wildfires raged across northern California. Known as the October Fire Siege, the fires began on October 8 and burned across 245,000 acres — almost eight times the size of San Francisco — before they were contained toward the end of the month.

In total, the fires killed 44 people and destroyed 8,900 homes and buildings — 5,200 in Sonoma alone.

Two of the fires that affected Napa and Sonoma — the Tubbs and Nuns fires — were among the most destructive in California's history, according to a 2019 report by the Los Angeles Times.

Wine country hadn't seen fires as large and destructive as the ones in 2017 since 1996, the LA Times reported.

The scale and unprecedented nature of the October Fire Siege prompted a flurry of media reports that were saturated with images of smoke and destruction, according to analysis by the Washington Post, LA Times, and other publications after the fact.

Less than two dozen wineries experienced significant damage, 99.8% of northern California vineyards came away unscathed, and most hotels remained intact. Tourists, however, stayed away.

Seventy-one percent of winery and vineyard stakeholders in Napa and Sonoma surveyed by Sonoma State University's Wine Business Institute after the fires reported "an immediate drop in tasting room traffic."

The decline in visitor numbers worried tourism officials and local business owners in Napa and Sonoma. Tourism is among the regions' top revenue sources, generating several billion dollars in tourist dollars in 2016.

To urge visitors back, residents and businesses began posting signs with messages like "The Love in the Air Is Thicker Than the Smoke" and sharing updates on social media using the hashtags #NapaStrong and #SonomaStrong.

In late October, local officials rode the Napa Valley Wine Train, which reported a 75% decrease in passenger volume, to show that wine country was open for business.

Visit California also joined the efforts, launching a $2 million #CaliforniaWineCountryNow campaign that kicked off with a fundraising dinner hosted by Food Network Chef Tyler Florence on November 21.

In the months that followed, images of rebuilding started to emerge. On the one-year anniversary of the fires, Wine Spectator published an article on winery and vineyard owners turning the fires into an opportunity to grow and innovate.

By the end of 2018, Napa and Sonoma reported that visitor numbers and spending were on pace with previous years ⁠— but achieving those results took work.

Though tourism numbers rebounded, wine country isn't in the clear: Major fires swept through neighboring Mendocino wine region in July-August 2018, and through Sonoma in October 2019.

Former California Governor Jerry Brown deemed the uptick in wildfires across the state the "new abnormal."

This past October, Pacific Gas & Electric announced that it would be instituting rolling blackouts over the next 10 years in wine country, prompting new concerns from locals and tourism officials that visitors would be reminded of the possibility for disaster.

Yet business owners continue to adapt. Some wineries are investing in back-up generators. Others are getting creative, hosting candle-lit dinners or moving tastings outside during power cuts.

"We're a strong, resilient community with so much heart," Dominic Foppoli, the mayor of Windsor, a town in Sonoma, told Wine Spectator in November. "This has brought us together and made us so much stronger."

That strength seems to have served wine country during its latest obstacle: the coronavirus pandemic.

Take Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa, for example, which reopened in December 2019 for the first time since the 2017 fires, only to close its doors a few months later due to California's stay-at-home restrictions.