Interview, Part 2: Hess Family Wine Estates’ Tim PerssonJanuary 19, 2021
In the second part of our interview, Hess Family Wine Estates chairman Tim Persson discusses the impact of California’s latest wildfires on the 2020 vintage, and his vision for the Hess portfolio over the next few years.
SND: What’s been the impact of smoke taint from last year’s fires on the 2020 vintage?
Persson: We’ve had quite a lot of experience with smoke taint between 2008, 2017, and, to a lesser extent, 2018 in the North Coast. In our experience, it’s virtually impossible to deal with smoke taint where it’s a significant component of a blend and where the relevant compounds are above certain thresholds. The other concern is the volatility of smoke taint during a wine’s lifespan, often expressing itself more prominently later on. Based on that experience and what we saw in the vineyards, we decided not to harvest fruit from our estates in Napa. It was a very difficult decision, but we