‘Hearts and prayers with our neighbors’: Caldor Fire shuts down El Dorado wineries

The Caldor Fire had burned through 65,000 acres of Sierra Nevada foothills as of Thursday, leaving hillsides full of ash and choking the air with smoke.

The people behind the region’s many wineries just hope it doesn’t come any closer.

Wineries are temporarily closing throughout eastern El Dorado County as evacuations depopulate the area. Yet a few days of lost business pales in comparison to possible ruin, as some Napa and Sonoma counties wineries faced after the Glass Fire last year.

Perhaps no winery’s tasting room is closer to the Caldor fire than Bumgarner Winery & Vineyards’ in Fair Play, which has been closed since Tuesday. Its Fair Play and Camino tasting rooms are both in evacuation zones, owners Brian and Jennifer Bumgarner wrote on social media.

“CLOSED today - hearts and prayers with our neighbors, friends, and fellow wineries as the #caldorfire takes it toll on our surrounding communities,” Bumgarner Winery & Vineyards’ post read.

Firefighters’ efforts and eastward winds seemed to be pushing the Caldor Fire away from Somerset, a huge relief for E16 Winery. Though nearby residents had been evacuated, the winery, which is normally closed to customers during the workweek anyway, had been spared as of Wednesday.

“(W)e cannot thank you all enough for your prayers, support and love during this time. For now the E16 estate vineyard located in Somerset is safe, as is our tasting room,” E16 wrote in an Instagram post.

Toogood Estate Winery in Fair Play emailed customers Thursday to say they’d be closed through at least the weekend, though a new tasting room in Placerville would remain open.

Further south in Amador County, wineries like 1850 Wine Cellars in Sutter Creek and Helwig Winery in Plymouth were still operating as usual with an eye toward fire forecasts.