It’s
been just over two weeks since Hurricane Sandy hit land in the northeastern
section of the United States. The
death toll from the storm is over 100 people, 43 in New York City alone. Over 8.1 million people were without
power, and thousands were displaced from their homes. Streets, subways and
tunnels flooded. Damage estimates
have been around $33-billion dollars, just for the New York City area, with
damage estimates for the eastern coast at well over $50-billion. This makes Sandy the second most costly
hurricane in the U.S., coming in just behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
It
will be months, for some years, before life returns to what it was. While the destruction and damage is
tremendous – what effects will Sandy have on the wine industry in the region?
Before
the super storm struck, store owners reported wine and alcohol sales were
brisk. It appears that the dark
and brooding wines were the first to go – Malbec, Merlot, and Cabernet,
followed by the sparkling wines. (Possible to celebrate if you escaped Sandy’s
wrath?)
After
the storm, many wine shops were unable to reopen due to damage, not having
electricity, or lack of product.
Despite some stores best efforts, Sandy’s flood surges made it past the
sandbags and barricades, damaging wine racks, crushing boxes and cartons,
busting bottles, and washing wine out the door.
But
how did wineries in the region fare?
And how were area vineyards affected?
According
to reports, most damage was sustained on New Jersey’s outer banks. Fortunately,
most of New Jersey’s 37 wineries are located father inland.
Wineries
and vineyards on Long Island suffered little property damage. The harvest was about two weeks early
this year and almost all of the grapes were already in and processed. Rainfall was not too heavy and minor
flash flooding could be dealt with.
The main problems for Long Island wineries were wind damage and some
minor flooding in the buildings.
By
all reports, the winery that fared the worst from the storm was Red Hook Winery in Brooklyn. Located on a pier on the Upper New York
Bay waterfront, Red Hook took a direct hit from the hurricane. Water was
reported to have surged into the building at over 5 feet, knocking out windows
and doors, demolishing most of the winery’s equipment, and destroying barrels of
wine.
Without electricity, the
winery had no climate or humidity controls, making mold and temperature
fluxuations perilous problems. If
the temperatures in wine fermentation tanks are not controlled, bacteria can
begin to grow and ruin the wines.
As of last week, Red Hook reported their wines may be a total loss. Red
Hook Winery sold their first bottle of wine in 2009. At this time, the fate of Red Hook Winery is
not known.
Vineyards pose another problem for the wine industries of New York and New
Jersey. Vineyards that had
completed harvest, still must deal with the loss of vines. Realizing that it takes most grape
vines three to five years to produce quality fruit, a replanting could cost the
wine industry in these states a set back, depending on how many vines
were lost.

The
after effects of the hurricane on regional wineries and their holiday season
will be tremendous. November
and December are the busiest and most profitable months of the year for small
and medium sized wineries. Without
a licensed winery location, or the wines to sell, many will face some difficult
financial and business decisions.
In this industry, every day a winery goes without wine sales results in
a tremendous financial, and public relation losses.
Residents
of Sandy-damaged areas will have to wait and see how much those insurance
policies are really worth.
Unfortunately, many in New York and New Jersey are finding out that
their insurance policies do not cover flooding, or they may have an “anti-concurrent causation” clause. This means that if two events occur at the same time, like
flooding and wind damage, and you do not have coverage for one of them – then
damage for either event may not be covered.
Only time will tell what Hurricane Sandy's true affect was on the Eastern U.S. wineries. For now, wineries there can only take it one day at a time, and trust the process will be fair...
~ Joy
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