I’m drinking wine right now, which is not unusual, but what’s different is that I’m feeling a bit melancholy as I do it.
One of Grapeline’s Sonoma hosts, Rufina, just sent me a photo of the Mayacama Mountains behind Kenwood Winery. The blackened slopes are a stark symbol of the enormous disaster that just occurred. The fires that swept through Northern California Wine Country this month go beyond disaster. They were a catastrophe on a level that’s historic.
Based on the most recent reports I've seen, 42 people perished in the fires, making it the third deadliest fire event in California history, and 67 more people are unaccounted for. Almost 7,000 structures, mostly homes, were damaged or destroyed. The financial toll is estimated at over $1 billion and climbing.
Wine makes me happy. But right now, it’s difficult to be anything but somber when I sip my Sonoma Chardonnay. Somber and hopeful. My hope grows from the stories of heroism, generosity, and community support that bubbled up through the headlines of tragedy and loss.
The human spirit perseveres through tragedy. Whenever there is suffering, there is compassion and volunteerism that uplifts those affected.
If you want to make a positive difference in the lives of our fellow human beings so deeply affected by this disaster, go to #CAWINESTRONG and donate. Maybe consider donating what you might pay for a good Napa Cab or Sonoma Chardonnay. I did, and many of my Grapeline colleagues are doing so as well.
And, you can contribute in another way. Open a bottle of Northern Cal vino, like I did as I sat down to pen this blog. Every bottle of wine you purchase helps put people back to work, helps re-build the local economy, helps move beyond tragedy and return to normalcy.
And knowing that makes the Chardonnay taste that much better.
~ Kay Syrah
Wine Country Guru Gal
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