Iconic Napa Valley Wedding Venues Facing Climate Change

Preserving the Legacy and Livelihood of the Napa Valley Wine Country

They called it “the perfect vintage.” The year was 2007. The renowned wine critic Robert Parker  issued seventeen perfect, 100-point scores to the Napa Valley region’s wines that year. It was simply unprecedented.

Thirteen years ago, rain came when they needed it, there were no extreme temperatures to threaten the growing season and the harvest yielded some of the finest wines ever produced in this country.

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This season, our climate tells a gravely different story. 

The fires that are ravaging California are not random or haphazard. They are part of a growing change to our planet, the evidence of which we continue to face in devastating and costly ways.

Napa: A Career Cornerstone

2007 was also the year that Patrick + KT met. I photographed their wedding at the Meadowood resort, one of the most renowned Napa Valley wedding venues.

As a compliment to their own “perfect union,” they celebrated the 2007 Napa Valley “perfect vintage” achievement by showcasing some of these extraordinary wines. They wed under the tall, Redwood trees that dot the sprawling grounds of Meadowood. Their guests raised glasses of the 100-point 2007 “Harlan Estate” wine. It was proudly produced by one of the owners of Meadowood, Bill Harlan. It was a celebration I’ll never forget.

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This is the Napa Valley I know. 

This is the artistry that put Napa Valley on the map. 

And this is the Napa Valley that has now lost—as of this writing—over 60,000 acres, 300 homes and almost two dozen wineries to the wildfire known as the Glass Fire.

In my fourteen years of photographing weddings, I’ve had the privilege of working in Napa often. Chad and I find ourselves there multiple times in a year, for wedding and engagement sessions. Pivotal in my journey as a destination wedding photographer, I consider Napa one of the great treasures of our American landscape and culture.

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The Napa Valley wedding venues I have had the honor of photographing are a cornerstone of my portfolio and have shaped my very career. 

Meadowood Resort: Losing an Iconic Napa Valley Wedding Venue

One of the most well-known and beloved Napa Valley wedding venues is the Meadowood resort, where I have captured the memories of gorgeous wedding celebrations over the years. Andrea and Jacob’s unforgettable Napa weekend embraced the natural landscape and wine country heritage of the region. Cheryl + Sam’s cross-cultural celebration highlighted the exquisite beauty and world-class cuisine available in the Valley. And the romantic, garden-inspired wedding of Nadine and Dan allowed guests to truly enjoy the Napa environment.

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At the Carneros Resort and Spa, where I photographed the wedding of Lea Michele and Zander Reich, dear family and friends played an integral part in the ceremony.

As I write this today, the main building and 3-Michelin-star restaurant at Meadowood resort has been completely destroyed by the Glass Incident Fire. It has been burning for over a week now.

The True Cost of Climate Change

The California wildfires of 2020 have devastated and damaged resorts, restaurants, homes and wineries throughout the Napa/Sonoma region, including Castello di Amorosa winery, Calistoga Ranch, Burgess Cellars, Fairwinds Estate Winery, Newton Vineyard and many more.

Wildfires are part of the natural ecosystems across the Western United States, but with the impact of climate change, we are seeing dramatic increases of catastrophic wildfires like this one. California and the Napa region face wildfire season every year, and this is certainly not the first time that devastation has hit. Following the destructive wildfire season of 2017, the Camp Fire of 2018 became the deadliest and most costly wildfire in California’s history.

The 2020 wildfires have now surpassed the size of the 2018 fires, burning over 4 million acres of land.

So how does this happen?

California has seen more drought and extreme, record-breaking temperatures in recent years as a result of climate change. This intense dehydration of forest land creates the perfect conditions for wildfires.

According to the Fourth National Climate Assessment:

In a high greenhouse gas emissions vision of our future, fire frequency across the Southwest, including California, could increase by 25 percent, and the frequency of very large fires (greater than 12,000 acres) could triple. California’s wildfire risk deserves serious attention now and in the future.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says, “We are in the middle of a climate emergency.”

And if the 19 lives lost, 3900 structures destroyed and  world-record breaking temperatures in Death Valley this August aren’t indicative of this? I don’t know what is.

The evidence of climate change is all around us, not just in the California wildfire season.

There are ways we can help the victims and those affected by this continuing disaster and tragedy, and I urge you to.

AND—there are things we can do to help prevent another disaster like it.
This means getting serious about preventing climate change.

Here are ways you can help.

Preserving Napa Valley

1. Spread the message of climate change and educate others on ways they can help.

2. Reduce your consumption. From energy to reducing plastic packaging to eating vegetarian (or even less meat)—every which way you can reduce what you consume (and waste) will help.

3. If you’re a couple looking to get married in Napa Valley, please support the region by moving forward with your plans. There are incredible Napa Valley wedding venues, such as the Carneros Resort and Spa, that are available to help plan your event.

4. Donate what you can. Every dollar counts, and if we all do just a small bit it will go a very long way in preventing the loss and devastation we are now witnessing. 

Where to Give

Support the relief efforts in Napa:
Napa Valley Community Foundation

Support the animals of Napa:
Napa Community Animal Response Team

Help fight climate change and prevent another tragedy:
Coalition for Rainforest Nations

Just 12¢ to this organization prevents approximately 1 metric ton of CO₂. With just a $12 donation, you can avert 100 metric tons of CO₂  and other greenhouse gases.

To Napa, wine is everything. And to the vintner’s who make it, climate is everything.

As Wine Spectator put it:

Sports teams have playoffs. Students have finals. And for winegrowers, the big sink-or-swim moment—the event the whole year’s efforts have led up to—is harvest.

This year’s harvest has been completely wiped out for many in the region. But there is still time to ensure a better future.

As co-owner of Meadowood resort Bill Harlan put it, “We have to find something positive out of all of this. This gives us the opportunity to rebuild this better than before.”

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On a private estate, on a hill overlooking the vineyards below, Elizabeth and Rhys wed under the natural beauty of the Valley. The bounty of  local farmers and vendors fed their guests as the green vines below soaked up the setting sun. 

I’ve returned to this memory many times this week. Napa, and our beloved Napa Valley wedding venues, are special destinations, even now. But we need to work together to ensure they will continue to remain a destination we can return to again and again, years from now.

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This post is lovingly dedicated to Meadowood resort in Napa Valley, and to all those who have lost so much in the California wildfires.