Napa Valley wineries hit hard in earthquake

NAPA, Calif. (KABC) -- Inside Napa Barrel Care, a wine barrel storage company, the floor is covered in wine. Nine hundred pound barrels burst open during a 6.0-magnitude earthquake that struck near Napa on Sunday.

"You lose all the wine. That could be anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000," said Todd Graff, a winemaker at Frank Family Vineyards.

Graff said losing even one barrel can potentially put someone out of business.

For "a small producer, that could have been their year's work right there," Graff said. "It puts them out of the market for a couple years. They lose their whole vintage. They could lose their placement in restaurants, in retail outlets."

Making matters worse, wineries are beginning the harvest season, one of the busiest times of the year for the $13 billion Napa wine industry.

"Any damage structurally to wineries, their busy season is going to come now, so they have to get those repairs done right away," Graff said.

In terms of wineries, some of the worst damage is at Trefethen Family Vineyards. A National Historic Landmark that was erected in 1886 dramatically shifted during the earthquake.

"There's certainly a scary look to it, a bit of a fun house look to it, a little crooked, but it's still attached to the foundation," said Jon Ruel, president of the Napa winery.

The building housed barrels and wine tastings. Ruel said they will just have to rebuild.

"Most of the building, most of the wine, all of the grapes, all of the people, they're OK, so there is a lot to be thankful for," Ruel said.