Legacies Lost

Glass Fire Destroys Iconic Napa Wineries

On top of the effects of the global pandemic, 2020 saw Northern California’s world-renowned Wine Country under additional specific attack, perhaps more than ever before, as more—and more catastrophic—fires raged through the region.

In mid-August, unseasonal lighting strikes met seasonally bone-dry ground in Northern California, and the multiple fires they lit quickly found one another, merging to become what became known as LNU Lightning Complex Fire. The fires caused significant damage to several local wineries and other properties.

Then, on the night of September 27, what began as a single 20-acre brush fire in the Deer Park area of Napa County, the exact cause of which is still under investigation, merged with other smaller fires in the area, ultimately expanding into a massive conflagration that would span both Napa and Sonoma counties and burn until October 20. This complex of fires came to be named the Glass Fire, for its origin point near Glass Mountain Road.

These and other multiple complex fires impacted hundreds of wine producers this past year, not only in Napa and Sonoma counties but throughout California, Oregon and Washington. The hard truth is that fires have increasingly threatened the wine industry and those who rely upon it for the better part of a decade now, if not longer. As the climate continues to change and humanity continues to fumble for solutions, it seems that fire, dangerous and deadly, is becoming an annual expectation, as reliable as the changing of seasons—and perhaps the single greatest threat to the future of the industry.

This essay focuses on the stories of three iconic Napa Valley wineries that experienced heavy losses in the Glass Fire of 2020. They are among the many who did.

Jeff Smith credits a moment in his youth—seated at the dinner table with his friends, the Davies boys—with “setting the hook” that would eventually reel him in to the wine industry. The man to set that hook, the late Jack Davies, was not just the father of his friends; Davies was the pioneer who purchased Schramsberg, the second-oldest winery in the Napa Valley, long before the Napa Valley would be thrust into the international spotlight by the “Judgement of Paris.”

Eventually Jeff came to work for another Napa Valley pioneer, Robert Mondavi. Jeff says he took advantage of the open culture at Mondavi and learned everything he could about wine, and how to make it. In time, he acquired his own estate, Hourglass, obsessed with chasing what he thought of as the “Holy Grail” of wine—complex, character-driven and balanced. Jeff may feel he’s still chasing, still seeking that timeless relic that will blow the minds of every critic and consumer, but his devoted fans know that he is already putting his decades of experience around the masters to good use—and making some truly extraordinary wines.

Les Behrens and Lisa Drinkward were married in 1987. By 1991, their mutual love of food and wine had led them to open a restaurant, Folie Douce, in their town of Arcata (CA). Lisa was the chef and Les served as wine buyer and sommelier. While the restaurant was a success, Les and Lisa say they found themselves drawn more and more into the wine side of the venture every day.

In 1993, Les and Lisa bought some grapes and made some wine. Not terribly long after, wine critic Robert Parker awarded a 96-point score to a wine that Les had crafted in their basement. It was not long after that Les and Lisa sold Folie Douce and moved to the Napa Valley, founding a winery on top of Spring Mountain.

Steve and Linda Sherwin were living in the East Bay when they decided that they wanted to raise their three children in a small town. They looked briefly in Montana, but ultimately chose the Napa Valley, which was closer to home. They discovered a close-knit community on Spring Mountain, and in 1996 purchased 30 acres. They initially intended to sell the grapes already growing on the property, but Steve discovered that he enjoyed making wine himself and Sherwin Family Vineyards was born.

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Steve and Linda placed an American flag on their label and donated the profits from wine sales to benefit first responders. At some point, someone pointed out that the placement of the American flag in that manner was illegal. Wanting to do the right thing, Steve and Linda applied to the U.S. government for permission and, to their surprise, it was granted. To this day, Sherwin Family’s tag line is “home of the patriotic pour,” and every year they donate many of their American-flag-festooned bottles to nonprofits across the country for sale in charity auctions.

The smell of smoke from the LNU Lightning Complex Fire still lingered in the air that wafted over the Mayacamas mountains between Napa and Sonoma when, in the early hours of September 27, a new fire raged into the valley. “There is a certain disorientation, being awoken in the middle of the night by emergency warnings and vehicles,” said Jeff Smith. Jeff’s winery, Hourglass, produces extraordinary wines from two small estate vineyards named Hourglass and Blueline, and the winery itself lies deep inside a hillside along with the caves that house precious barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

“We evacuated to the winery a couple miles away,” Jeff recalled, “but were there only a few hours as the fire moved very rapidly through the eastern hills. We would end up evacuating four times that day as the fire moved around the Valley. CDF [California Department of Forestry] made a big stand all Sunday on the ridge above the winery. It was truly amazing to watch. For a while we thought they had it stopped, but by nightfall the winds picked up and CDF had to retreat. It eventually came down the canyon above us, through Calistoga Ranch [resort] and, ultimately, on top of the winery by about 10pm Sunday night.”

As Jeff and the CDF wisely retreated from danger, Jeff’s winery equipment, guesthouse and some of his vineyards burned in the rearview mirror.

“It’s certainly a lot of trauma,” said Schatzi Throckmorton, business manager at Behrens Family Winery. “My husband and I got married there—it’s those personal things, those memories, that are now tarnished. It’s 20 years of our lives that we’re now missing. To have this again …” she trailed off.

Lightning strikes and high, hot winds and the fires that ensue may be natural phenomena, but to the inhabitants of Northern California’s Wine Country, whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by flames with increasing frequency every year, there is no comfort in that knowledge.

Behrens, which sits on Spring Mountain on the western side of the Napa Valley, was particularly devastated by the Glass Fire. The original winery, which was being used for barrel storage, was completely destroyed. The winery’s entire 2019 vintage burned, as did all of their library wines, the office and the apartment where Lisa’s son, his wife and their newborn were living. One of two wine caves housing full barrels was destroyed, while outside fermentation bins full of just-harvested grapes melted into ghostly grayish-white masses.