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California winery owner loses 'dream castle' to fire

Piles of debris and broken bottles now blanket the floor of Dario Sattui's winery in Napa Valley, California's world-renowned wine-producing region.

Over 100,000 acres across Napa have been scorched since the Glass Fire erupted on Sunday, destroying over 80 homes and other structures -- including much of Sattui's winery.

The Castello di Amorosa's storage chamber, fermentation room, and bottling facility -- all burned by the blaze.

"The fire was only on this little corner of the roof and then I raced down ... found a fire truck and they came up. But by the time they got all set up, the building was pretty much consumed and it ended up a total loss so it's a real shame. You know, I have put my heart and soul into this project that we took almost 15 years to build this project, my dream castle, my dream."

The Glass Fire struck midway through the traditional grape-harvesting season in Napa, which was already reeling from a large cluster of wildfires earlier this summer.

In total, the flames have scorched around 4 million acres across California since January - far exceeding any single year in state history.

"Fire and the other tragedies in the Napa Valley are especially devastating for Castello Di Amorosa because we sell 100 percent of our wines direct to the consumer who come to the winery. A little bit mail-order and online but essentially everything is sold here so we are out of business."

Not all hope is lost for Sattui; the majority of his wine supply, about 100,000 cases, is stored safely elsewhere.

But the full effect of the wildfires on Napa's wine business remains to be seen.

Industry officials say some winemakers will likely scale back production of certain wines -- out of fear that the grapes they're made from have seen too much exposure to smoke.