Betz Family Winery Won’t Release 2020 Vintage Impacted by Wildfire Smoke - Eater Seattle

"Betz Family Winery — a 24-year-old, well-respected operation that has a tasting room in Redmond — recently announced that it would not be releasing a vintage from 2020, due to the smoky impacts last year’s wildfires had on harvested grapes. The business has vineyards in Eastern Washington, as well as a Pinot Noir project from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, regions which endured a devastating wildfire season in the summer of 2020. Betz’s announcement highlights ongoing concerns many Pacific Northwest and California winemakers have on how the “taint” from wildfire smoke will affect the industry — in October 2020, several wineries in Oregon pulled out of grape contracts due to such factors. Now, with another potentially major wildfire season ahead, those fears will only grow and may lead to more wineries skipping vintages. 'We never considered for one second sending wines to customers that are flawed,' the Betz owners told Great Northwest Wine. 'While it is brutal to have to do this, the decision was easy.'" - Gabe Guarente