Chrisのアメリカワイン事情（1）

この4月から、北米在住ワインコレクター歴20年+のChrisが月1回程度、アメリカの旬のトピックをお伝えしていきます。

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こんにちは、Chrisです。

2020年のカリフォルニア森林火災は様々なところに影響を及ぼしていますが、ナパの有名ワイナリーも例外ではないようです。

以下で伝えられているのは、ご存知ケンゾーエステイト。20年にわたりケンゾーエステイトのワインメーカーとして関わっていたスター醸造家 Heidi Peterson Barrettが2020年の赤のリリースをめぐり、同ワイナリーを去ることになったようです。

火災時に白は収穫が終わっていましたが、収穫前の赤葡萄には煙香が付いた可能性があるため、ナパでは多くの有名ワイナリーがリリースを取りやめています。

そんな中、赤をリリースするケンゾーエステイトと「2020年の赤は自分が造ったワインではない」と主張するBarrett。一体何が起こっているのでしょうか。

—————— Star winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett walks away from Kenzo Estate over the release of the 2020 reds. Well-known winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett has walked away from a 20-year gig as a winemaker at Napa Valley's Kenzo Estate over a disagreement with the owners about releasing the winery's 2020 reds. The 2020 vintage in Napa Valley was interrupted by the Glass Fire, which burst out on September 27 and led to significant smoke over the valley for days. Most white grapes had been picked already, but the fire started in the middle of Cabernet Sauvignon harvest season. Quite a few high-end wineries have chosen not to release a 2020 red wine because of fears of smoke taint. Just one example: Shafer Vineyards, which has for the past two years made the wines that sold for the most money at the Premiere Napa Valley wine auction, made no wine at all in 2020. In fact, the 2022 Premiere auction (where a Shafer 2021 Cabernet sold for $1260 per bottle) had only 21 Cabernets from 2020 on auction; normally, the auction features about five times that many Cabernets from two years earlier. Atsushi Akahane, executive vice president of Kenzo Estate, told Wine-Searcher he did not want to talk about the details of why Barrett, who is listed on the website as the winemaker, walked away from the gig. Akahane said that Barrett has been a consultant and that for the past 15 years, the winemaker has been Marc Nanes. "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." Barrett told Wine-Searcher that, in fact, she was running the winemaking. "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 of years ago but was actually an 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 the 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." "I would like it to be public knowledge that I did not make the 2020 reds," Barrett told Wine-Searcher.