I know this has been mentioned in multiple threads, but what’s the bottom line for most of you? Are you buying the Anderson Vly/Mendo wines as usual, avoiding them due to the smoke issue, taking a wait-and-see approach, or what?
I hate to say it but taste before you buy. It’s a bit of a minefield. Some missed it altogether and produced some good wines. Some got slammed. And the smoke taint really manifests itself like a true beach campfire. Not enjoyable in wine
Good question.
I recall Whetstone commenting on smoke taint during Pinot Days. The only place I could detect it was Evening Star, and it was not necessarily troublesome to me, just evident.
I’m gonna trust the folks like Anthill Farms and buy away. I’m pretty confident the better producers won’t sell anything under their label that isn’t up to their standards.
Tim you are far more trusting than I. Littorai released a 2008 wine last spring that was very campfire esque. And for $30. At sub $15 I might have bought a bottle or two for an experiment. You really need to taste the wines in 08. If you can’t get to an industry tasting or public tasting buy minimal quantities and taste immediately to see if you want to buy more. You’ll thank me later
wasn’t that wine something they made specifically due to all of these issues? I don’t think it was a standard/regular part of their offerings, right?
I am trusting anthill for sure.
Not made but released early bc of those reasons. They felt the fruitier the wine and the less time it spent in oak the more they could mask the smoke.
Some producErs did really well. Many did not. Heck a friend who makes Grenache can’t sell the wine. It is so smokey.
I won’t trust anyone without trying the wines inthis vintage. At leas for mendo and some true sonoma coast vineyard
no knowledge of the central coast in 0&
Good advice and something to keep on the brain. One thing for sure, it won’t be a vintage where I try new producers.
Have to agree with Tony and recommend tasting before buying whenever possible. The effect of the smoke in '08 varied from vineyard to vineyard and even from block to block within individual vineyards. It hit some Sonoma Coast vineyards too, but was not nearly as widespread there as in Mendocino. From what I’ve tasted at various places, it’s very difficult to fully eliminate the smoke taint in the wines. Some treatments did help reduce it to a level that’s harder to detect. Another option was to blend it with enough non-tainted wine to get it below the sensory threshold. And a nasty thing about the smoke taint is that it could seem to disappear after some treatments and then return later…I suspect that may have been an issue with the '08 Littorai “Les Larmes”.
Fortunately, there are still a lot of very good '08 California wines out now and coming out in the future - really only a few areas that were hit hard by smoke taint.
Anyone tasted 2008 Copain Kiser?
The Littorai was $37/bottle at release I believe…not $30. They did warn to drink it early. But $37 is a lot for a wine with smoke issues.
I haven’t tasted the 08 Kisers but Bearwallow vineyard is immediately adjoining (actual vines seperated by maybe 500’) and we haven’t seen the slightest bit of smoke in that wine, for whatever that’s worth.
I agree with the taste or get good third party opinions before buying strategy, btw. I am anxious to try the 08 Anthills and Copains.
Josh
I hope someone who has tasted these responds to your question. So far I have only bought some Anthill 2008. I normally look forward to the Kiser release, but at its price point I will think twice on the 2008s unless I can taste them or get some reliable tasting notes to draw on.