In this Insurance Institute Of London (IIL) marine & energy lecture Tiina Ruhlandt will speak about the winery industry in northern california and its relation to the London Cargo Market. She will then review the 2017 wildfires and resulting losses before concluding with lessons learned.

If California were its own country, it would be world’s 4th largest wine producer. California’s history of wine growing goes back to the 18th century.

As the winery business grew in California, the risk associated with the handling, storing and transporting of valuable grapes and wines eventually made their way to the London Cargo Insurance Market.

In 2017 a series of wildfires damaged or destroyed multiple wineries and caused substantial losses. As in all post natural catastrophe situations, the California wildfires created an opportunity to examine best practices for fire loss prevention, response and recovery plans as well as post-loss mitigation.