Earthquake Aftermath - What Help Do You Need?

I hope I’m not overstepping my place here, but I think I can safely speak for most of the community in saying that we want to do what we can to help the people who have been affected by the recent earthquake. Thus, I’m starting a dedicated thread so that they can let us know what we can do as they have a chance to assess the extent of the damage.

It can be hard to ask for help, even when we need it, so when considering whether to post, please keep in mind that help can take a lot of different forms, we have a huge range of skills and knowledge in the community to tap into, and you are just responding to a request from the community for your help. We are driven to do something. We just can’t know what that something should be without your guidance.

I agree. Glad to assist in some way.

I would love to help however I can.

Can anyone turn my electricity on?

Nolan, I wish.
I remember 2+ weeks after hurricane Hugo all too well. Here’s hoping your wait will be brief.

I echo the sentiment of others; let us know how to help.

Ditto. Perhaps this should be a sticky.

Cheers,
Doug

Done

How about a wine auction to benefit the Napa needy??

I hear John Kapon is ready to donate several cases of 45 Romanee Conti and a dozen magnums of LaFleur 47.

Anyone know of specific wineries hit hard. I saw a picture of Silver Oak with bottles all over the floor and several places where barrels came down. Nothing specific though.

Trefethen looks pretty bad. One of my staff says inspectors are at her house now and that her neighbor’s house was red-tagged. She lives around the corner from Truchard. I saw some nasty pictures taken at Starmont. I wonder how the other wineries in Carneros are doing. The TV reporters seem to have obsessed on downtown Napa and the 49ers.

You raise a good point Mel. Soil composition can make a huge difference in what damage is done to a certain area. Who remembers the damage done to the Marina in SF during the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989?

Chappellet is a mess.

Sounds different than what they said on Twitter:

Browns Valley was hurt the most. The trail seemed not to get hit so hard.

I’ll do what I can; wish I could take a week off and drive down to assist but it’s too early for that. Once emergency services gets everything under control and power gets restored people will start the arduous task of cleaning up and rebuilding.

If you look at a map, the epicenter was really more Carneros and less American Canyon. It’s about 400 yards south of Poseidon s Vineyard, which is at the intersection of Las Amigas and Milton. So I would expect problems at Bouchaine, Acacia, etc. I read in the SF Chron that Saintsbury got hit hard. They’ve had enough trouble. An arsonist destroyed their wine library a few years ago and the rebuilt one is ruined.

Short of being here now to give shelter and comfort to those affected (and just to emphasize, the whole community is impacted, not just wineries), so support in the way of donations to Red Cross or another local charity will help the most. There is plenty of labor (who know what they are dealing with) to handle the cleanup and tallying of loss.

Adam Lee challenged several wine writers to (including me) to post something on Social Media that raises awareness of the disaster. I shot a video earlier this evening on FB but it certainly is not the last thing I will do. Here is the link: Redirecting...

From Rudius (Jeff Ames) FB post earlier today:

“It has been an incredibly difficult day for our family, friends and neighbors here in the Napa Valley following the earthquake early this morning. The Ames family feels very blessed to all be safe & sound, but our wines have not fared as well.
We appreciate all those who have reached out and offered their support. We will continue to share updates with you all in the coming days as we assess the damage.
Stay safe everyone!”

Great site has been setup for those who have help to offer, or need help:


http://wineindustryinsight.com/forums/

Coming out of lurkdom to carry over info that I’ve been posting on Cellar Tracker plus some new info.

Silver Oak lost much of their library wine collection, and a few cases recently bottled.

Matthiasson/Silenus Vintners had almost every barrel in the winery knocked over–it was unknown as to how many will be saved. Other wine was stored at Napa Barrel Center where over 1000 barrels belonging to numerous vintners fell to the ground. This might be the single biggest loss in one location.

BR Cohn lost 400 bbls.

Trefethen’s building will be condemned, it’s too early to know the damage to the wine.

Sebastiani lost at least 14 tanks.

Napa Valley Wine and Cigar had a lot of broken bottles and stemware.

Bounty Hunter is closed with structural damage–the building is red tagged.

Vintner’s Collective is closed and the building will almost certainly be condemned and torn down. They have opened offices for wine club fulfillment–but no tasting room–around the corner.

Maisonry had damage to some art and wine.

Etude had major damage with over half their barrels off the racks.

Starmont had major damage with “many” barrels off the racks.

Domaine Carneros had minor damage.

Taylor Family Winery and Gustavo Thrace each lost a barrel.

Lagier Meredith lost an undetermined number of barrels.

Garnet Vineyards lost an undetermined amount of wine.

Hess lost a huge amount of wine–by the sounds of it as much as Sebastiani.

Goosecross lost barrels but aren’t sure how many.

Robert Biale lost at least a handful of barrels.

Fontanella lost “many” barrels–based on photos I’d guess at least 20-30 are a total loss.

Rudius hasn’t stated exactly what their losses are, but it sounds like they are grave.

The Andaz Napa, Westin Verasa, and Napa Valley Marriott are all closed with structural damage that ranges from minor to what appears to be fairly major.

I’ll update as I hear of more.