Have Napa Valley Fires Impacted Wine Tour San Francisco Businesses?


In 2017, wildfires in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties devastated the region’s vineyards, with some wineries shuttering entirely and others facing a long road to recovery. However, while some businesses were affected in dramatic fashion, others suffered little to no damage at all. Wine tourists in the region will need to keep track of which wineries fall into what category over time, which may require more intensive research than some folks want to do. With that in mind, companies that focus on San Francisco tours are well placed to make life easier for visitors who want to experience California’s wine country. Here’s how.

Professionals Handle the Research

First and foremost, a professional tour company needs to keep its customers happy in order to stay in business, and that means being on top of all the closures, openings and changes to wineries in the region devastated by fire. When tourists and locals hire a professional guide to handle the planning, there’s no need to spend time doing all the research independently. That can be worth the cost of the tour alone. The risk of showing up at a winery only to find it closed is minimal with a tour company.

Tour Guides Can Provide Context

Locals are extremely concerned with the aftermath of the fire, and not just because it impacts their businesses. Fires on this scale have significant environmental and humanitarian outcomes as well. Tourists who want to learn more about what happened and why will likely be able to have an interesting and informative conversation with their tour guide on this subject.

There’s More than One Winemaking Region Near San Francisco

Though Sonoma and Napa are two of the best-known winemaking regions in California, there are other areas where wine production is still going strong, some of which are a similarly short jaunt away from the Bay Area. The Tri-Valley and Livermore area, for example, offers a great opportunity for wine tour businesses to keep the vino flowing and the wheels rolling for tourists who want to sample delicious California vintages.

Fires Aside, Curated Tours Make Life Easier

Wine tours are a good idea because they make the process of winery hopping so much safer and easier. Who wants to be a designated driver while the rest of their friends or family gets to enjoy delicious wines? Letting professionals take the wheel puts everyone on an even playing field and takes all the logistical hassles out of the equation. This was true before the fires caused such devastation in Wine Country, and these tours are still just as helpful as they ever were, and maybe even more.

SF Insider