Oregon Winemakers Turn Wildfire Losses Into Collectible Bottles

The year 2018 was a stellar year for wine grapes, as harvests hit record yields up and down the West Coast. But it was also a year of powerful fires on the heels of catastrophic blazes in 2017.

As climate change has become more destructive and unpredictable weather more commonplace, the threat to vineyards has become unavoidable. But in the Rogue Valley in southern Oregon, a test case is unfolding that demonstrates that even in the face of sizable crop loss and broken contracts—and the resulting inability to resell a sensitive agricultural product before it rots—wine grapes can be rescued.