As sunlight spilled into California's famed Napa Valley on a summer day, rows of wine grapes reflected the benefits of this winter's record rainfall.
California growers reported $600 million worth of grapes lost to smoke damage after the 2020 fire season, the office of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla said. California's wine industry generates $170.5 billion annually, according to the California Association of Winegrape Growers.Elias Fernandez, who has been the winemaker at Shafer Vineyards for 40 years, said the vines have 10% to 15% more fruit than last year. But he said cooler temperatures this summer could delay the harvest.
A tractor makes its way through a vineyard trimming leaf cover, seen from a Napa Valley Aloft balloon, in Yountville, Calif., Monday, June 19, 2023. This year, wine grapes are thriving after a winter of record amounts of rain fell in California, but a recent trip high above the valley in a hot air balloon revealed miles of lush, green vineyards — the only blemish coming from shadows cast by the balloons themselves.
“The last time I checked, we were behind a couple of weeks and whenever we start to run behind, you start thinking about how can get closer to the rainy season,” he said.“This could turn around and we could start seeing 95 to 100 degrees . It’s a wait-and-see kind of situation,” he said. In recent years, Northern California’s wine country has been hit by major wildfires, driven by a changing climate, that destroyed parts of the world-famous region and left little doubt it is vulnerable to smoke and flames.
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