ReportageThe concern is piercing the “wine cellar” of the United States, affected by the pandemic and the fall fires. Jean-Noël Fourmeaux, a French operator installed in 1983, has given up producing a 2020 vintage.
The ashes have started to cool: the fire is finally contained. In Napa Valley, the “wine cellar” of the United States, it’s time to take stock. The “Glass Fire”, which was triggered on September 27, destroyed or damaged around thirty wineries. Hundreds of hectares of vines have dried up on the vine, endangering an industry that had already been affected in the spring by the interruption of tourism due to the pandemic. Napa is the flagship of American viticulture: 18,600 hectares of vines in a bucolic setting, 130 kilometers north of San Francisco. California accounts for 85% of the wine produced in the United States.
French winegrower Jean-Noël Fourmeaux, who has been farming in California for nearly forty years, is also doing the math. In his moments of discouragement, he advocates drawing a line on production. No 2020 vintage. “That way, in five or ten years, we won’t be able to drink it and we won’t remember this terrible year. “ The Bordelais are not, however, those who give up easily. In 2009, when he had health problems and believed himself doomed, he sold his vines and crossed India on foot. Since his return, he has gradually bought back his property.
In 2018 and 2019, his wines won first prize at the auction Napa Valley charity auction, the ultimate in social events for foodies and wine lovers. His 2016 Fourmeaux was sold for 114,000 dollars (96,000 euros) – 952 dollars a bottle, a record -, and the 2017 edition for 85,000 dollars. This season, he managed to save 21 tons of grapes out of the 200 tons of his usual production: chardonnay – white grapes are harvested earlier in the summer; and six tonnes of cabernet, collected a few hours before the fire – “A stroke of the pot, the grapes were practically ready”.
Diabolical swiftness
In the Fourmeaux vineyard, located 700 meters above sea level on the rough and volcanic soil of Mount Veeder, the harvest takes place three weeks later than with the winemakers of the valley, who, lucky enough, had already done the harvest. But no one in Napa will emerge unscathed from the mega-fires of 2020. The grapes are imbued with a smell of smoke; the quality may not live up to the prestigious labels. “Technically, we should have left the grapes a little longer on the vines, explains the producer. The fruit may not have the same aromatic complexity. ” It must have been his 37e vintage. He made up his mind: there will be no Fourmeaux 2020.
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