⁍ Smoke has blanketed much of the U.S. West and fires have charred more than 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) in California so far in 2020.

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⁍ The true impact on the $70 billion-a-year national industry will not be known for months as the wildfire season is not yet over.

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– “It looks like a lunar landscape here.” Such is the assessment of Patrick Elliot-Smith of his family’s Elan winery in California’s Napa Valley, which was among the many affected by the LNU Complex fire in August. The blaze, which burned more than 4 million acres—more than double the previous record for any year—and destroyed dozens of buildings, including the Chateau Boswell winery and a farmhouse containing storage, bottling, and fermentation facilities at the Tuscan castle-style Castello di Amorosa, was so bad that the winery decided not to harvest any grapes this year or sell fruit to other producers, reports Reuters. “We cannot afford a bad vintage,” Elliot-Smith says. “It looks like a lunar landscape here.” Smoke from the fires can alter a grape’s chemistry and taste, resulting in wines with “ashtray aromas” that may appear during fermentation or even as late as after bottling. While grapes picked from the vine before exposure are safe from smoke taint, many winemakers with as yet unpicked harvests are awaiting the results of smoke testing from back-growing wine laboratories before deciding whether to proceed. A notice this week on the website of Napa Valley-based ETS Laboratories warned of a wait till November for new tests. Its co-founder and technical director, Gordon Burns, said it was too early to speculate as to the overall damage. “Every location is different, and smoke exposure may be transitory and as little as none at all. Any fire impacts will certainly not be to the entire vintage in any of the affected wine regions,” he added. Eric Jensen, owner of Booker and My Favorite Neighbor’s favorite neighbor in Sonoma, said he lost his entire crop and his livelihood, which lost his business has been dedicated to the “has been a testament to the “Extraordinary success in the battle to fight to bring the battle to both both both both both both both both both both both, which could bring the “sneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneaksneak and asneaksneaksneak and (thesneaksneaksneak [and [and [legendlegendlegends—avellavellavellanhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnhnh. (The fire, which, which, whichcottcottcottcottcottcottcottcottcottcottcottcottcottcottcottcott.