Navigating Through the Vines: Assessing the Current State of Winery Insurance Market in California

While certain geographies are experiencing a tightening of P&C capacity, especially in California, wineries in the region are feeling the sting more than most due to extreme weather events.

‘In the classic Sonoma Napa Valley wine country, if we had a winery exposure on the valley floor, we can get insurance and procurement that is reasonable and not too expensive,’ said Mike Ryan (pictured left), practice leader of the North Bay business unit of InterWest, which has a Wine Industry Focus Group. ‘Unfortunately, a lot of these vineyards are on top of the mountains, and that’s where wildfire risk really is, which drives property premiums.’