Owner vows to rebuild Signorello Estate winery
Ray Signorello was on a trip to Canada with his two daughters, ages 2 and 6, when he heard that his namesake winery, built in 1986 on Silverado Trail, was on fire.
His wife, Tanya, was at the property — where the family also lives — when flames became visible in the Vaca Mountains. She evacuated around 11 p.m.
By morning, Signorello Estate would become a memorable image of devastation in the Wine Country fires that, several days later, are still causing destruction throughout Napa and Sonoma counties.
A number of staff members had raced to the winery late Sunday night, fire extinguishers in hand. “They fought the fire themselves for as long as they could,” Ray Signorello said. “But eventually they had to turn back. It was coming for them.”
On Wednesday, Signorello returned to the property for the first time.
“It looks like the pictures. Rubble. Fully devastated,” Signorello said.
The vineyards, as far as Signorello could tell, were largely spared. So was much of the barrel space, so he believes that some of his wine inventory is fine.
Still, he estimates the damage to his property to be “in the millions.”
“We’ll be getting back to business as soon as we can,” said Signorello. “We still have wines in Napa Valley, and we want people to drink them.”
Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicle’s wine, beer and spirits writer.