Winery spills thousands of gallons of cabernet into California river
A California river filled with wine when a tank of cabernet sauvignon sprang a leak at a popular winery.
Christopher O'Gorman, a spokesman for Rodney Strong Wine Estates in Healdsburg, confirmed the tank in Sonoma County sprang a leak Wednesday and wine poured into the Reiman Creek, which carried it to the nearby Russian River. ...
The California Office of Emergency Services said 97,000 gallons of wine spilled into waterways, but the winery said that number represents the full capacity of the tank and only about 20-25 percent spilled. ...
Don McEnhill, the executive director of the non-profit Russian River Keeper, said volunteers have been monitoring the situation.
"We're lucky in that it's winter, the river is high, there's a fair amount of dilution. We haven't had any reports of fish kills, certainly the biochemical oxygen demand and the acidity of the wine is going to kill some smaller insect type things that are fish food. This could have been a lot worse," he said. ...