2020 California smoke taint. Again.

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2022/03/california-cult-winemaker-walks-out-on-winery

When the First Lady of California Wine walks out, strange things are afoot.

[Andrew_Demaree]

Have to say, Kenzo doesn’t come off so well in that article.

Kudos to Heidi Barrett for being willing to walk away rather than be associated with wines she feels are not up to her standards.

[jeffruggels]

Have to say, Kenzo doesn’t come off so well in that article.

Kudos to Heidi Barrett for being willing to walk away rather than be associated with wines she feels are not up to her standards.

agreed

[John_Oglesby]

I would be incredibly shocked if any smoke infected wine was released with noticeable characters of taint. The wines will have been treated, stripped, filtered, blended, rebuilt long before it hits the market.

You may very well be correct. And what was left for me was a more lean Pinot, and one lacking layers and depths. Maybe 2020 is a lean year for Sonoma Pinot? I don’t know - haven’t tasted any others.

No matter how much treating and filtering you do, there are some wines that continue to have some smokiness. Since the compound that we consider “taint” is the same compound that comes from toasted barrels (which we don’t consider taint or a fault), it is virtually impossible to completely rid some wines of smoke. That being said, I’m fine with a little bit of smokiness, as it tells the tale of the vintage. I would also expect that the wineries that I trust and purchase from consistently would not release a wine that wasn’t up to their standards. It might not be the best of their wines of all time, but I would still expect it to be tasty and interesting.

At the end of the day, we should try and remove the bias of a smokey vintage the same way we should remove the bias from a “lean” vintage (looking at you OR 2007), and taste the wines before we buy.

The wine I tried had no “smokiness.” Mezcal is smoky. BBQ ribs are smoky. I’ve had some other wines, such as Zins, that have a smoky character to them that I sometimes find appealing. This Pinot did not have any of those characteristics (and I’m not sure I want a Pinot that tastes like BBQ). So back to Mr. Oglesby’s comment, if this happened, it seems to have stripped the layers/depth the toasted barrel might have imparted. If as others have said, that smoke taint does not provide a smoky profile, but instead an ashtray profile, then NO - I don’t want that - it’s a vintage I will avoid, tale or no tale, or be very careful in my purchases from the vintage.

Next point, I agree, I would expect a respected winery that puts out wines, maybe even if tainted, that reflect their high standards… or at least be honest that the wine may be tainted, or that it was filtered/refined. As I said previously, the wine was still “good” - it was “tasty and interesting,” but not up to the level of previous vintages, nor similar in profile. If this is what they did, then say it, and give me the heads up it might be different. My wife was perfectly fine with it - I just thought it was lean. I did not get the ashtray profile that the OP did, not I my palate may be less sensitive to it. But I’m not sure that I agree we should ignore the possibility of smoke taint, or “remove the bias” - if it’s tainted with smoke, then there is a chance to negatively impact the wine.

One last point - if you don’t live in California or Oregon, you probably aren’t going to get a chance to taste many wines before you buy them, short of someone pouring them at a stand in the liquor store. Not many people do what Larry does, by sending samples and hosting a Zoom.

To treat the wine post barrel aging is not how I would recommend a winemaker to approach the problem. You don’t want to strip away the barrel, as that actually creates a bigger donut to try and fix. You also don’t want to potentially infect a $1000 barrel. Leave the wine in tank and treat it accordingly until you are comfortable enough with the wine to go to barrel… but even at that point I don’t recommend new wood. Go with neutral barrels and use stave inserts… or, just leave it in tank with staves. The quality will not be there for your normal program - if you intend on selling it, I feel the best way is to declassify the vintage and create a blend, or throw it on the bulk market and get enough back to pay for your utilities. You might have a shot at going with a vintage blend - but the standards set will be incredibly hard to achieve and you’ll probably cut into your profits on other wines.

The teams behind the wine are far less forgiving on the final product than the public is.

[Dennis_Borczon]

Have to say, Kenzo doesn’t come off so well in that article.

Kudos to Heidi Barrett for being willing to walk away rather than be associated with wines she feels are not up to her standards.

agreed

Well Kenzo may regret this decision in the long run. This is like hanging out a big neon sign for geeks out there “do NOT buy this crap”. Barrett has never had questionable issues in her work, I tend to trust her version of the story. It’s her word vs a billionaire glamour owner in Napa? Yeaaah, I won’t be lining up to buy this wine. But some punters out there may get fooled.

[Eric_White]

Kenzo comes off looking terrible, but I doubt they care - article said most is sold in Japan (I for one had never heard of 'em)

[Curtis_Chen]

“Heidi is just a consultant, even though her position was, quote, winemaker,” Akahane told Wine-Searcher. “We have a winemaker who is in charge of everything 90-95 percent every year. Heidi just stopped by just for the branding just like Michel Rolland. But actually (Nanes) is making wine every year.”

Solid roast though.

[JBrochu]

“Heidi is just a consultant, even though her position was, quote, winemaker,” Akahane told Wine-Searcher. “We have a winemaker who is in charge of everything 90-95 percent every year. Heidi just stopped by just for the branding just like Michel Rolland. But actually (Nanes) is making wine every year.”

Solid roast though.

IDK to me this sounds like the winery admitting (if true) that what they have been selling you all along was a lie. The winery looks terrible here no matter which version is the truth regarding who the winemaker is.

[Daniel_Walsh]

“I’ve been their winemaker from the beginning and never was the consultant,” Barrett told Wine-Searcher. “Very different from how Rolland works. Marc (Nanes) was named associate winemaker a couple years ago but was actually assistant winemaker since 2007. The website still calls me winemaker as I set the style and do the blends with Marc and have been ultimately responsible for wine quality, having final say from the beginning. Marc is not mentioned on their website but has been my assistant and a big part of our production team running the cellar crew. I will miss my production team going forward as we have created a long legacy of delicious wines during my time as winemaker there. On all the back labels is my signature as winemaker.”

She fired back though and I’ve actually heard of their Ai bottling before. Looked them up a while back, but thought it was an instant pass at $280 especially from a winery with very little feedback on Cellar Tracker and Wine Berserkers.

[Al_Osterheld]

My money is on Heidi’s version of her role. One can debate the definition of winemaker, but Kenzo called her the winemaker, I’m not aware that she just takes money to have her name on a website, and she is rather supportive of Nanes role even while spelling out her own. In any case, it doesn’t help their case (as has been pointed out) to “confess” to subterfuge, nor is it relevant to the underlying claim of smoke tainted fruit.

-Al

[TerrenceL]

Not surprised by this at all. When we visited in 2020 after the fires they talked about how they still bottled and sold their 2017 vintage despite all the fires because consumers in Japan like smoky whiskey so they should like smoky wine. That was enough for me to never buy from them. My guess is they will use the same “smoky wine” vs smoke tainted wine to try to sell this in Japan again.

[David_Bu3ker]

Never heard of Kenzo before this thread.

[Rich_Brown]

Not surprised by this at all. When we visited in 2020 after the fires they talked about how they still bottled and sold their 2017 vintage despite all the fires because consumers in Japan like smoky whiskey so they should like smoky wine. That was enough for me to never buy from them. My guess is they will use the same “smoky wine” vs smoke tainted wine to try to sell this in Japan again.

Wow, that’s wild that they actually told you that! WTF!?!?

And like David, I had never heard of them prior to this thread…but certainly won’t be seeking them out.

[Al_Osterheld]

I’d also not heard of them, but I’m not a Napa cab buyer so there are lots of newer producers I don’t recognize.

-Al

[TerrenceL]

Not surprised by this at all. When we visited in 2020 after the fires they talked about how they still bottled and sold their 2017 vintage despite all the fires because consumers in Japan like smoky whiskey so they should like smoky wine. That was enough for me to never buy from them. My guess is they will use the same “smoky wine” vs smoke tainted wine to try to sell this in Japan again.

Wow, that’s wild that they actually told you that! WTF!?!?

And like David, I had never heard of them prior to this thread…but certainly won’t be seeking them out.

Yea, we were all pretty shocked to hear them say that. As far as Heidi, they made sure to talk a lot about how much influence she had on the wine, etc and that she had final say on all the wines as the head winemaker.

[Peter_Shurman]

I recently ordered some 2020s from Once & Future. The Godfather includes the pick date on all his bottlings. More producers should follow his lead.

[Wes_Barton]

Not surprised by this at all. When we visited in 2020 after the fires they talked about how they still bottled and sold their 2017 vintage despite all the fires because consumers in Japan like smoky whiskey so they should like smoky wine. That was enough for me to never buy from them. My guess is they will use the same “smoky wine” vs smoke tainted wine to try to sell this in Japan again.

Wow, that’s wild that they actually told you that! WTF!?!?

And like David, I had never heard of them prior to this thread…but certainly won’t be seeking them out.

Hey, people think smoke tainted Scotch is perfectly fine, or even the preferred style.

People also go for “Bourbon Barrel” wine. Still not quite sure if that’s used Bourbon barrels or just kiln dried American oak. I’m okay not finding out.

But really, if it’s just a nice wood smoke character, people add that to food on purpose, and there’s rauchbier. If it’s disclosed in a wine, and doesn’t have a nasty dirty ashtray (or whatever) aspect, who cares? We don’t have to buy it. This is all case by case, imo. We’d hope our favorite producers make good decisions. So, if this particular producer has a high-end Napa Cab that shows well, but has a smoke component some people like without anything objectively bad, then perhaps just disclosing that and channeling the wine to a market that will be receptive is fine. Perhaps that’s better than treating it, compromising overall quality, and trying to pass that off as normal, or taking a bigger financial hit and declassifying it in one way or another. Hypothetically. (They put their sense of ethics on display, so…

[Casey_Hartlip]

Sorry for the drift but…the vineyard was first planted in '98 and they even picked a crop. Then David Abreu is hired as viticulturist but will only take the position if they agree to completely replant a very young vineyard. Now that’s some juice!

[TerrenceL]

Not surprised by this at all. When we visited in 2020 after the fires they talked about how they still bottled and sold their 2017 vintage despite all the fires because consumers in Japan like smoky whiskey so they should like smoky wine. That was enough for me to never buy from them. My guess is they will use the same “smoky wine” vs smoke tainted wine to try to sell this in Japan again.

Wow, that’s wild that they actually told you that! WTF!?!?

And like David, I had never heard of them prior to this thread…but certainly won’t be seeking them out.

Hey, people think smoke tainted Scotch is perfectly fine, or even the preferred style.

People also go for “Bourbon Barrel” wine. Still not quite sure if that’s used Bourbon barrels or just kiln dried American oak. I’m okay not finding out.

But really, if it’s just a nice wood smoke character, people add that to food on purpose, and there’s rauchbier. If it’s disclosed in a wine, and doesn’t have a nasty dirty ashtray (or whatever) aspect, who cares? We don’t have to buy it. This is all case by case, imo. We’d hope our favorite producers make good decisions. So, if this particular producer has a high-end Napa Cab that shows well, but has a smoke component some people like without anything objectively bad, then perhaps just disclosing that and channeling the wine to a market that will be receptive is fine. Perhaps that’s better than treating it, compromising overall quality, and trying to pass that off as normal, or taking a bigger financial hit and declassifying it in one way or another. Hypothetically. (They put their sense of ethics on display, so…

Definitely agree with the this. My issue was more that it was sold as a wine with a smoky note, not one that had smoke taint from the 2017 fires based on the conversation we had during our visit. If a winery wants to bottle a smoke tainted wine, fully disclose it, and price it as such then if someone is a willing buyer go for it, but I can’t agree with selling it like a non-tainted wine with a “smoky note”

[Paul_Miller]

With Scotch, we’re talking about smoked peat. With BBQ, we’re talking about smoked hickory or mesquite. With the California wildfires, aren’t we also talking about smoked trees, grass and other vegetation, as well as smoked houses, cars and garages, smoked stores and gas stations, smoked chicken coops and strip malls?