Wine Grape Grower Sued Over Smoke Taint

Posted by David Eddy|May 25, 2021

A Lake County, CA, winery is suing a grape-growing company, claiming that grapes harvested during the wildfires last fall ruined nearly two dozen oak tanks and barrels.

The North Bay Business Journal reported this week that Langtry Farms LLC sued Hugh Reimers and one of Reimers’ companies, Torick Farms LLC, in Lake County Superior Court on May 3. The vintner alleges that Torick delivered grapes that were supposed to be free of “smoke taint” and those grapes supposedly damaged a number of tanks.

At a court hearing on the suit on May 20, the judge noted he has seen evidence provided by Reimers’ side that a manager at Langtry Farms accepted the deliveries and did not raise any question about the quality of grapes. The winery filed receipts from grape deliveries and third-party laboratory test results showing high levels of taint-associated compounds in samples supposedly from tanks associated with those grapes. Both sides will get a chance to submit more evidence and argue their cases at a forthcoming court hearing, tentatively.

Meanwhile, the lack of rain in California this past winter means the state’s fire season, which is normally limited to fall, will likely begin early this year because of the dryness of the vegetation. “Smoke taint” is going to be an issue for California’s North Coast wine industry for the foreseeable future. It should be noted, however, that the bulk of the state’s wine grapes are grown in the San Joaquin Valley and are not generally subject to smoke.