Signorello Estate, a Canadian-owned family winery on Napa Valley’s Silverado Trail.Supplied
Pictures of the Signorello Estate facade engulfed with flames were broadcast around the world in the wake of the Atlas Fire, which scorched 20,800 hectares as it swept through Northern California on Oct. 9, 2017. The Canadian-owned family winery on Napa Valley’s Silverado Trail lost its retail operations, including a tasting room, offices and the residence where winery owner Ray Signorello Jr. and his family stayed when in Napa. Only the vineyards, which acted as a firebreak, and the barrel cellar were left unscathed.
Signorello, who co-founded the winery with his father in 1977, vowed to rebuild, estimating they would welcome back wine lovers for private tours and tastings in two years’ time. Nearly seven years later, the family celebrated the opening of its new facility, fashioned from steel, concrete and glass, and built into the side of a hill for optimal fire protection, on June 18. The owner shares insights about why he chose to rebuild and how the new winery was designed to be fire- and future-proof as safeguards for the future.
Supplied
What inspired you to rebuild following the destruction of the wildfires?
We lost buildings, but fortunately we didn’t have any loss of wine or vineyards. That was a huge silver lining. We had already made the 2017 wine at the time of the fire, not everyone was in that same boat. The vines on the property are now 35 to 40 years old. Old vines with low yields [of grapes] makes for great wine. I’m 60 years old now, I don’t have 40 years to wait.
Planning and building the winery took much longer than expected. How do you feel about the finished project?
I guess the good news is by taking so long, we did it right. We didn’t make mistakes. A lot of times when you’re rushing to rebuild after some catastrophe, you jump in going full blast ahead. This was a long slow process for a lot of reasons, but looking back today, there’s nothing I would have changed. It’s exciting to be back in business and preparing for this year’s harvest.
Supplied
How do the development restrictions of the Agriculture Preserve – which established agriculture as the highest and best use of the land in Napa County in 1968 – influence operations like yours?
It’s very different here than, say, the Okanagan where wineries have restaurants and accommodations. Napa doesn’t do that. The agricultural preserve has dictated that wineries and vineyards are just that. They are not meant to be restaurants and hotels. Obviously, there are a lot of people who want to build things in Napa, but the prevailing mood is there’s already enough infrastructure.
Ray Signorello Jr.Supplied
It’s common for wineries to embrace form and function by allowing winemakers to produce top-quality wine within an aesthetically pleasing space. Your facility also includes measures to help protect against wildfires moving forward.
It’s been thought out in a lot of different respects. We factored in all we’ve learned from a winery and hospitality perspective and the reality of wildfires perspective. This is about as fireproof as you can make a winery. The building is concrete and steel. It’s built into the side of a hill. It’s not like a four-wall type of building; a significant part of it is underground. Fires here would come naturally from the Northeast. The way we are wedged into the hill, a fire would dance over top of the roof, kind of like a ski jump.
You’ve referred to those safety and protection measures as well as other sustainability aspects of the winery as “future-proofing.” What else does that entail?
We created a first-of-its-kind, fully refrigerated, insulated and waterproof underground cave for our production, storage and hospitality needs. It’s solar powered so we can control the temperature and humidity, 100 per cent off the grid. All the power is underground. There are no power poles on the property, which not only looks good, but means that there aren’t any power poles to burn to the ground. (We have two wells on the property, one dedicated to the winery and one dedicated to the vineyards, although either one could run the whole property.) Even, you know, if it all screws up, we’re keeping our wine underground where it’s naturally cool. It’s not like a building where if you lose your refrigeration, you’re in trouble.
Another point of difference from winery neighbours is that you focus on grapes from one single vineyard, a contiguous block of vines that surrounds the winery.
My goal is to always to be relentless about the quality. It’s about a great vineyard, a great winery and great team. We’re trying to make wines that are streamlined, with good structure and complexity. We make three wines, two cabernets (Signori and the flagship, Padrone) and an old vine chardonnay, Hope’s Cuvée, which is a tribute to my mother.
How do you divide your time between Napa and West Vancouver these days?
I’ve been in Napa a lot to guide things as we get back into the marketplace. I’m also travelling quite a bit to talk about what’s going on and showcase the new wines. I did the California Wine Fair in Canada and Vancouver Wine Festival recently. We have a fair amount of wine in Canada, including other brands, Edge, Trim and my latest project called S, which is a Napa cabernet. Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia are pretty good markets, all things considered.
Reports show that tourism in Napa continues to lag behind prepandemic levels. Any concerns as you welcome back wine lovers to your estate?
Supplied
I’m not worried about Napa. Napa is one of the great places for wine in the world. If you like good food and wine, it’s second to none. I think that traffic is building and heading in the right direction. When I started there were maybe 120 wineries in Napa. Now there are 800 so there are more opportunities for people. It’s tougher for any winery to get the same traffic they might have gotten in the past. But I’m hoping that as a new facility and having had the misfortunate that we did, we’ll see a lot of people coming back as well as first timers who will see what we’ve built and the kinds of wines that we make.
This interview has been edited and condensed.