Napa-based Jackson Family Winemaker Chris Carpenter interview from The Drinks Business
When asked more generally about the mood in Napa at the moment, he spoke of a sense of “resilience”, commenting that the community was “coming together”, while recording that the region has previously suffered natural disasters, and has even been strengthened by setbacks.
“We had the earthquake in Napa in 2014 and we dealt with that, and we came out better than ever, and it will be the same with the wildfires, we are focused on getting through the harvest and, again, we will come out better than ever,” he said.
Speaking further to db about his own reaction to the situation, he recorded the distressing combination of looking after his family and colleagues, while trying to do his job as a winemaker.
“I have been making sure that my that my family as well as my employees and their families are safe, and trying to maintain the wines, but what has kept me going is focusing on the normal – I’ve been doing pump overs every day, and making sure the ferments are ok, and I, and my team, have been focused on that,” he said.
“I have been making sure that my that my family as well as my employees and their families are safe, and trying to maintain the wines, but what has kept me going is focusing on the normal – I’ve been doing pump overs every day, and making sure the ferments are ok, and I, and my team, have been focused on that,” he said.
“Focusing on what we do has helped me get through it: we are not fireman or the people who have saved the valley, but we are workers, and our economy and the strength of this valley resides on that – our guys have contributed to the health of this valley long-term, and, maintaining a sense of normality during this crazy last week was our contribution,” he added, reiterating his earlier sentiment.
“Our contribution is to make the wine that makes this valley great,” Chris Carpenter told The Drinks Business
Looking back to the start of the wildfires on 8 October, he said that his team had opted to keep working despite advice to the contrary.
“The fire began late Sunday night and early Monday morning all my staff arrived, but nobody knew the extent of the fires, or the rate they were moving,” he began.
“We had no electricity, but we had a generator, and we got the fruit in and kept the winery operating, and then we went home,” he recalled.
“The next day all my staff showed up again, and, after making sure that everyone and their families were safe, I then asked them, ‘Do you want to work?’. No-one wanted to go home, they all wanted to keep busy, they wanted to keep doing what they were supposed to do – and that was best for us as a team,” he stated.