A Wine Business Institute (survey) concludes virtually none of the vineyards in the North Bay were affected by the October wildfires, though tasting room traffic and sales dropped.

Preliminary findings indicate 99.8 percent, or 138,937 of 139,204 acres were unaffected, the Sonoma State University-based institute announced.

The figures are based on a survey of more than 200 vineyard and winery stakeholders across Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties, in addition to early analysis of available economic data, and in partnership with the California Wine Institute.

Authors said the public perception from some news coverage that area wineries suffered widespread damage contributed to the drop in tasting room visitors. Seventy-one percent of survey respondents reported an immediate drop in tasting room traffic compared to the same period last year, although this trend started to recover in November, and 62 percent reported a drop in tasting room sales compared to this period last year.

Further, half of respondents reported that visitors from the San Francisco Bay Area increased or remained constant, while visitation from outside California and the U.S. was most affected, and 75 percent of respondents noted online sales are equal to or higher than this period last year.

Beginning in November, however, visitor numbers returned to or exceeded prior year numbers for the same period, and other wine regions in the state reported a significant increase in visitor numbers during this period.

more at North Bay Business Journal