Nearly 100,000 gallons of wine spilled from Northern California vineyard

Almost 100,000 gallons of wine spilled from a tank at a Northern California vineyard and some leaked into a river that flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Rodney Strong Vineyards in Healdsburg said much of the wine that escaped was captured in pumps and drainpipes in ponds at the winery or pumped from Reiman Creek after staff became aware of the leak in a blending tank on Wednesday.

"But, unfortunately some wine made it from the creek into the Russian River," vineyard spokesperson Chris O’Gorman wrote in a Facebook post.

O’Gorman told the San Francisco Chronicle that some of the Cabernet Sauvignon spilled directly into the creek. He told the newspaper the winery estimates about half of the tank's contents were captured.

The extent of the leak and its impact was not immediately clear. An estimated 46,000 to 96,000 gallons made it into the Russian River, according to Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, which was notified of the incident Wednesday.

Don McEnhill, executive director of nonprofit Russian Riverkeeper, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that the wine spill is likely the biggest in Sonoma County history.

Wildlife investigators were on site to assess impacts on the local ecosystem and water quality, the newspaper reported.

There were no effects on the Sonoma County Water Agency's systems, spokesperson Brad Sherwood, told the Press Democrat.

The 110-mile Russian River is a popular summer vacation spot in Northern California, with the river providing water and recreation to some 600,000 residents and a million visitors every year, Russian Riverkeeper says.

O’Gorman said the winery was conducting an internal investigation. "We are deeply concerned and are doing everything in our power to protect our waterways," he added.

The Press Democrat reported that a door on the blending tank somehow popped open about 1:30 p.m. Vineyard workers used two vacuum trucks for cleanup on the property and tried to build a dam to prevent flow into Reiman Creek, the newspaper reported

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sonoma County wine spills into Russian River in Northern California