Point Fire: Wineries on high alert as wildfire burns in Sonoma County

Members of Sonoma County’s wine community are watching anxiously as firefighters battle the Point Fire, which broke out June 16.

The wildfire was first reported at 12:33 p.m. in an area about 12 miles northwest of Healdsburg and west of Geyserville, according to Cal Fire.

Evacuation orders have taken effect throughout a territory southwest of Lake Sonoma and Dry Creek, including a number of wineries in the Dry Creek Valley and Healdsburg, and an additional evacuation warning zone has been set farther south to Mill Creek Road. Access the map here.

Wineries that have been ordered to evacuate include the following:

• Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery
• Dutcher Crossing Winery
• Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves
• Capo Creek Winery
• Raymond Burr Vineyards
• Zichichi Family Vineyard
• Hawley Winery
• Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate
• Rafanelli Winery
• Mounts Family Winery

As of 6:45 a.m. Monday, Cal Fire listed the fire as having grown to 1,100 acres and being 20% contained. There were no immediate reports of significant injuries or confirmation of structure damage Monday morning. But some worry that they’re not out of the woods yet — especially when the afternoon winds pick up.

Mary Roy, owner, chef and winemaker at Capo Creek, one of the wineries in the evacuation zone, said this morning that there remains a “nice big plume of smoke” on the horizon, but so far  her winery remains intact, and people seem to be complying with the evacuation orders.

“We have to leave it to the good lord to help us out here — and ,of course, the firefighters,” she said.

But even if the fire is contained without sparking further damage, the evacuation itself is causing significant disruption to her winery’s operations, she said. Evacuations mean power shut-offs, and since she doesn’t have a generator, it means that the refrigerated and frozen items she’d planned to serve at the restaurant this evening and tomorrow will go bad.

“It’s hard to survive in the wine business already to begin with,” she said. “Then all these little things happen.”

Meanwhile, a Monday morning Instagram reel posted by a winemaker at Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate showed blue skies and higher-than-expected levels of visibility.

Historically, vineyards act as natural fire breaks, according to experts at UC Davis’ viticulture and enology program. “Grapevines are very resilient and do not burn easily,” the department states. But several devastating, wind-fueled wine country fires, including the 2017 Atlas Peak and 2020 Glass fires, wiped out numerous wineries in the region and burned several to the ground.

Winery owners and winemakers have taken major steps in the years since to amp up their fire readiness, from fire hazard abatement to fire training and equipment. Winery owner Jim Regusci, for example, added 210,000 gallons of water storage to his Regusci Winery property in Napa, and added two fire department-style bulldozers and two fire trucks after those fires.

Alan Viader, director of operations and winemaking at Napa’s Viader Vineyards, took CalFire’s six-month fire training after the Glass Fire, hardscaped the winery property with rocks and gravel and made sure the hookups on his water tanks, which hold nearly half a million gallons of water, were sized for fire hoses.

Wineries near the Point Fire evacuation zone remain on high alert. Chateau Diana in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley is just east of the evacuation zone, but staff members have their walkie-talkies prepared and are going about their day with a sense of readiness, said Jeff Pitrman, the winery’s director of new business development.

In addition, their tasting room is closed today, which makes it easier to evacuate should the need arise, he said. “You don’t have that additional overhead of making sure customers get out first.”

Beyond the personal safety threat of wildfire, many people in the industry work tirelessly year-round to produce their wines, and if they’re lost to wildfire, he said, “It’s like losing a piece of history. An entire vintage of wine is just gone.”

Particularly concerning, he said, is that the Point Fire didn’t break out during a particularly hot period.

“The new climate reality is that this is going to keep happening,” he said. “I think all of us here feel very concerned for the other wineries in this area.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available.