Approximately 300 vineyards and 12,000 acres of wine grapes in Napa County were released from a European grapevine moth (EGVM) quarantine in late August.

The change was effective Aug. 27.

The action releases the remaining quarantine area in Solano County from regulatory restrictions. The Sonoma County quarantine areas along the Napa County border have been lifted except a small area adjacent to previous Calistoga finds. 

According to the Napa County Agriculture Commissioner’s office the news comes after zero discoveries of the EGVM this year in the Napa County quarantine zone. A single moth was discovered in the Sonoma County community of Cazadero in June. Intensive trapping and treatments in the area yielded no additional moth discoveries.

The EGVM feeds on grapes, making them unmarketable.

According to the University of California, the EGVM was first reported in the United States in Napa County in 2009. The pest is native to southern Italy and is now found throughout Europe, north and west Africa, the Middle East and eastern Russia. It has also been reported in Japan and Chile.

Great cooperation since 2010 by the wine grape industry and local, state and federal departments of agriculture led to this quarantine area reduction, according to Napa County Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Humberto Izquierdo.

Izquierdo also praised local residents as “instrumental in this significant milestone” by partnering with state and local agricultural agencies to eliminate the pest from back yard and non-commercial vineyards.

Officials caution that while the regulatory quarantine news is significant, growers and wineries that are still operating within the quarantine must continue to follow all regulatory requirements and be vigilant to prevent any re-infestation of areas removed from quarantine.

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The lifting of the entire quarantine for Napa County is still two years away given there are no new EGVM detections.

Information on EGVM, the quarantine reduction areas and a map of the revised quarantine area can be found at http://www.countyofnapa.org/AgCommissioner/EGM/