Napa Valley winemaker pleased by 2020 wildfire-year vintage
NAPA - The 2020 wildfire season destroyed nearly 20 North Bay wineries and damaged dozens more. But one winemaker whose vineyards survived is happy with what he was able to produce.
For Marcus Notaro, winemaking runs in his blood.
"We're Italian. My dad made wine for the house," Notaro told CBS News Bay Area. "There was always a bottle of wine on the table, and our neighbors or our friends would come over and I liked listening to the conversation."
Today, he's the head wine maker at Stags Leap Wine Cellars. His passion is shown through his product.
"Making a product or making something for the table that inspires people to have a good time and have conversations is something that is very, very rewarding," said Notaro.
In 2020 the reality of sharing wine at a table with friends and family was sidelined as the global Covid-19 pandemic shook households across the world and conversations turned viral.
But in Napa and Sonoma, wineries had another challenge - a devastating fire season that destroyed dozens of wineries up the road on Silverado Trail, and threatened dozens more.
"We were concerned about that about everything you know, the challenge in 2020 with fires anyways that they of course started earlier in the season," Notaro explained. "I think the biggest challenge in 2020 for us and really valley-wide, is just the sheer size and the scope of the fires."
Notaro had their grapes tested to determine their viability. But his expert senses told him what he feared - they lost a quarter of their grapes that season as smoke was absorbed into the skin of the fruit.
"Everything has a taste and if that taste isn't going to help bring out the expression of the fruit, then you're not making a better wine," said Notaro. "If you have a background of something that shouldn't be there, that's not going to be good."
But the rest of the crop they were able to salvage and move forward in the winemaking process. He had one expectation when he first tasted the 2020 vintage: "better be good," Notaro said as he sipped on their cabernet sauvignon. The swirl of the glass tells the story of the vineyards and the hands that have produced their wines for decades.
"These wines need to be number one, about this place," Notaro said, pointing out to their Napa vineyard. "These vineyards out here are special and they have a personality, you know that you smell and taste in the older wines."
The heat that 2020 brought to the Napa and Sonoma valley changed the flavor profile of the wines, but to Notaro's satisfaction.
"To characterize the 2020 wines, I'd say they have a little more of a riper aroma to them, and a little bit more of a bigger richer structure to them as well which is also related to those heat events that we had in September," Notaro explained.
This vintage, he says, celebrates the highs and lows that 2020 brought.
"2020, there was a lot of other things that were happening but we're making a product for people to enjoy," said Notaro. "We enjoy making it and kind of when you can get through some of these more difficult times together. It kind of makes you stronger, and are things that you think about when you're tasting the product here almost three years down the road."
Stags Leap wine cellars is expecting to release their limited 2020 vintage in May.