Roberson sets up JustGiving page for California wildfire relief effort

Wine merchant Roberson has set up a JustGiving page to raise funds within the wine trade for the California wildfire relief effort as the death toll rises to 31.

“In Sonoma one in four people work in the wine trade – this is likely to be doubled in Napa. As the IWC California retailer of the year for the last five years who represents over 30 Californian producers, we feel that it is our duty to help,” said Shana Dilworth, Roberson’s on-trade sales account manager.

“Our aim is to galvanise the wine trade to stand together to help support local producers, their workers, and their communities, many of whom have lost not just their vines but their schools and homes.

“This will be an industry-wide issue that will affect producers at all levels. Our interest here is in helping the community to rebuild this beautiful and very special place,” she added.

The merchant set up the JustGiving page yesterday, which has already raise £570 from donations from the likes of Master of Wine Anne Krebiehl and wine writer Wink Lorch. The aim is to raise a total of £10,000.

The money raised will be split equally between the Sonoma County Resilience Fun and the Napa Valley Community Fund.

Roberson Wine will be donating a proportion of sales this month towards the relief effort along with hosting a fundraising event – California Wine Bantz at 10 Cases in Covent Garden on 22 October with the Wine Source and Liberty Wines.

Wildfires have been raging across the northern part of California since Sunday. Over 8,000 firefighters are working to contain the blaze but high winds are stifling efforts.

Around 3,500 homes and businesses have been damaged by the fires, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes, many of which are without power.

According to Napa Valley Vintners, five wineries have suffered total or significant losses with a further 11 reporting damage to winery buildings and vineyards. Among the wineries to have been damaged by the fires are Darioush and Mayacamas.

The majority of the grapes this vintage had been harvested before the fires began on Sunday, though some Cabernet remains on the vines.

If you’d like to help, you can make a donation on Roberson’s JustGiving page.