Chateau Montelena no red wine produced in 2020

Just got an email from Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena saying they have choosen to stop the harvest of the red wine grapes and will produce no red wines in the 2020 vintage (the red wines are Zinfandel, Calistoga Cabernet, and the Estate Cabernet). Montelena has picked their Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay and it looks like they will be producing these wines in 2020.

A retail buyer I talked with yesterday said that from the retail side of things he thinks 2020 west coast wines will be a difficult sell with everyone thinking the wines will be filled with smoke taint.

Any other wineries out there announce they aren’t producing wine?

Lots of wait and see in WA and ORE.

Not a big name but Smith-Story said they were not going to make any 2020 wine. I know I heard another one, but it’s not coming to me now.

Lamborn and I think one other on Howell Mountain. Soliste in Sonoma. What a freakin year.

Add Neal to the list

Lamborn was the other one I had heard about.

Ketan Mody says Montecillo, Maus, Lupina, and Vare vineyards all have smoke taint.

Guessing answer is NO but do some winery’s have insurance for this kind of thing?

I was reading Flawless and he mentioned that there isn’t any carryover effect of taint but it can or does cause smaller yields the following year so 2021 should be interesting. I’m curious if anyone will decrease price knowing their grapes have some issues or would they just sell them as normal. Maybe they’ll do some reverse osmosis and try to reduce taint?

My understanding (which is nothing) is they will not do that. It’s either sell at full price or dump. Reputation is too important.

That makes sense but I figured you still gotta pay the bills and have some cashflow? I remember one of the forums someone mentioned someone was selling their wine regardless of the taint and just ignored it. Maybe this is where we see more merchants/negociants? COVID plus the fires and smoke taint have to be making things difficult cashflow wise.

Can only speak of Cameron Hughes / deNegoce and there is no way he will purchase bulk wine that has smoke taint as that would ruin his brand. Maybe some of the large supermarkets would?

Not sure about wineries. But, I would hope the vineyards have crop insurance that covers the winery not purchasing their fruit.

Yah, sorry, I meant vineyards.

Calluna picked one block of 2017 after the fires and they made the decision to bottle it separate and sell it for a lower price with full disclosure. I’ve got no idea if it was tested much less the results but I’ve tried it on multiple occasions and I don’t think there is any noticeable issues. My wife loves it.

I could see wineries doing something similar in 2020 but it would be case by case decision. After some of the 2008 problems, I do think that most will exercise caution but as noted cash flow is vital.

In general crop insurance covers crop loss from listed natural issues. I don‘t Know how smoke is covered but assuming it is covered then the concern is how is taint determined. Assuming it’s by test then there may be problems as there have been a number of reports of wineries rejected fruit prior to any tests or holding off picks waiting for test results which were taking way to long to process. So what happens when the fruit tests good but isn’t purchased? Crop insurance won’t cover that.

I highly recommend Jamie’s book.

See my post for EMH Vineyards on the Weather and Farming thread.

Do you have a link? I’d like to read it but I’m getting lost in the search for it. Sorry if it’s obvious and i’m missing it.

Weather farming