2015 Cayuse wines contaminated - pulled

Got this bummer e-mail this morning:

Since 1997, we at Cayuse Vineyards have been dedicated to creating world-class wines. We are committed to biodynamic farming and our mission is to produce wine that is the best possible representation of our unique terroir. We simply will not release a wine that doesn’t meet our rigorous standards.

Earlier this year, in preparation for the May bottling of many of our 2015 wines, we purchased the highest quality corks from our long time supplier. Despite taking every possible step to ensure that we are crafting the best wines possible, during bottling we discovered paraffin particulates caused by faulty corks.

We stopped bottling immediately and we contacted the cork supplier right away. They told us they knew what the problem was with the first lot of corks and they assured us we could proceed with bottling the rest of the wines using a second separate lot of corks.

After bottling, we checked periodically to be certain there were no problems and to see how the wines were developing. When we discovered the presence of paraffin and an oily film in the wines bottled with the second lot of corks we decided to bring in industry experts to help analyze the wines. Their analysis included a Military-Style Protocol Sampling which confirmed the entire bottling was defective. We agree with the conclusions of the experts and as a result we will not be releasing any of the wines from our May bottling.

We have been working diligently with our insurance company to ensure that each customer receives a full refund for the following wines as soon as possible:

2015 Bionic Frog Syrah
2015 Cailloux Vineyard Syrah
2015 Camaspelo
2015 En Cerise Vineyard Syrah
2015 En Chamberlin Vineyard Syrah
2015 Flying Pig
2015 Impulsivo Tempranillo
2015 Wallah Wallah Special Syrah #8 Magnums
2015 Widowmaker Cabernet Sauvignon

We are devastated at the loss of these wines which includes 2,995 cases (750ml) and 2,678 magnums. As you all know, there is considerable anticipation for the 2015 vintage from Cayuse Vineyards and the wines were outstanding prior to that bottling in May. In March, just two months before that bottling, Jeb Dunnuck of The Wine Advocate tasted barrel samples of these wines and scored them between 93 and 100 points. We are extremely disappointed to have produced such beautiful wines that we are now unable to release.

Not all is lost. The rest of the 2015 vintage (bottled in August 2016 and July 2017) remains pristine. The following wines will be distributed, as planned:

2015 Edith Grenache Rosé
2015 Cailloux Vineyard Viognier
2015 God Only Knows Grenache
2015 Armada Vineyard Syrah
2015 The Lovers

Cayuse Vineyards is passionately committed to creating world-class wines. We thank each of you for your ongoing loyalty, support and understanding. We know that you share our disappointment. Obviously this was beyond our control and we’re very sorry.

We really appreciate your ongoing trust.

In Vino Veritas.

I would have gone postal.

Can you elaborate? While frustrating that I won’t receive the entire allocation I paid for I have respect for a producer that is not willing to bend their standards and put a product that they feel is tainted into the market. If you mean that you would have ‘gone postal’ on the cork manufacturer from the winery’s perspective I can understand.

Lawyers next…

I received the same message. That must be around a $3.5MM loss? Sounds like we may be waiting for them to collect insurance proceeds before they will credit customers. Bummer for these guys.

What other producers purchased the same corks?

Large BUMMER !

If I were the owner, I would have melted down over this. Of course they are doing the right thing.

My first order after 7 year wait

Wow. Just wow. Major bummer.

Tom

Is the release party still viable with so few wines to pick up? This is bad for Walla Walla as a whole. The town fills up for that event.

Painful for everyone.

I applaud the professional stance Cayuse has taken. Very pro-active, indicating, to me, high integrity. A terrible loss for Cayuse after getting their babies to the bottling line, which usually indicates the end of the production cycle.

Major bummer…but gotta love the commitment to quality, integrity, and high standards…

But yah if i was an owner, and lost most of my vintage production, i would be plenty upset… even if financially insurance will cover, this is catastrophic.

Also, clint raises a great point - what other wineries used corks from this cork producer?

As a cellar guy, all I can think about is all those late harvest nights, the stress, the tension, all the days when it seemed like nothing is going your way. That’s usually worth it in the end. Not this time.

Well that sucks.
Don’t bother buying any lottery tickets for a while…

The pickup party will go on as of now.

I’m sure they did the right thing and I’m not questioning the move.

However, I’d be interested in how this actually affects the wine. I assume it is food grade paraffin wax, which is edible - found on many apples, for example. Most people would not consider apples contaminated by wax.

Wow. Class by Cayuse to fix it, even at the near total loss of wines.

Two questions.

  1. What impact does the paraffin have on the wine? (I am assuming it isn’t up to Cayuse Standards, but might still be yummy at a steep discount…)
  2. Wonder if this will impact No Girls and Horsepower too…

What are they going to do with the wine? can they create a one off label… sell it at 30 cents to the dollar? not only to recover cost, but if the taste isn’t impacted, it can be a cheap early drinking wine? this is not a thought through idea, just brain storming… are they just going to go destroy all the bottles? [cry.gif] [cry.gif] [cry.gif]

Or… maybe they’ve opened the wine and confirmed that the taste is beyond repair?

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I am guessing the insurance co. Will have something to say about that, since they will most likely now own the juice.