Wildfires and wine don't mix

In addition to its many other firsts, 2020 was also the year that California saw the most active wildfire season ever with more than 4 million acres burned. The state’s wineries and vineyards paid a particularly high price.

In late September, the Glass Fire destroyed vineyards in Napa and Sonoma, effectively canceling much of the fall harvest. Even vineyards that weren’t destroyed by the fires suffered smoke damage, heat exposure and shutdowns. In the latest Insurance Speak podcast, Larry Chasin, president of PAK Programs, which creates and offers specialty insurance programs for the craft beverage industry, shares some of the challenges for growers and insurers.

“The Glass Fire hit the Napa Valley and was driven by winds that exploded an 11-acre brush fire overnight,” says Chasin. He shares that people described them as fire tornadoes because the fires were everywhere.

The result included direct fire damage to buildings, structures, vines, the area’s infrastructure, automobiles and more. He explains that access to water, communications, the internet and other resources were also destroyed in the fires. “You have to rebuild before you can recover,” he stressed.

In addition, businesses can suffer losses even if the wineries are not directly affected. “It’s still a major disruptor,” he says. A year’s vintage can be lost just through smoke taint, which affects how the wines will taste and may not be identified immediately. A loss of power can affect any type of processing for businesses such as breweries, cideries and even restaurants. Knowledgeable specialty loss adjusters play a vital role in assessing the various aspects of the claims.

For more of our conversation with Chasin, listen to the podcast above.

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Related:

• Putting 2020 in the rearview mirror — Part 2
• Wildfire risk leaves Californians without homeowners insurance
• California’s virus war collides with its other crisis: Wildfires