By Evan Dawson, Finger Lakes Editor
Just
days before veraison, Heron Hill Winery on Keuka Lake has cut ties with
winemaker Thomas Laszlo. The Hungarian-born winemaker had been with the
operation since the summer of 2002.
The winery declined to explain the decision.
"We're starting the search for a new
head winemaker immediately," explained marketing director Kitty Oliver.
When asked about the urgency with harvest approaching, Oliver said that
Heron Hill will not make any rash decisions. "We're going to be very
specific," she said. "We're looking for a world-class winemaker. We're
not going to do this fast; we're going to do this right."
Assistant winemaker Brian Barry will remain with Heron Hill, Oliver said.
Laszlo brought attention to Heron Hill's for the winery's highly regarded late harvest wines. He recently directed the launch of Heron Hill's Blaufrankisch, a red wine more commonly known as Lemberger.
With an active wine blog and an expanding portfolio of bottlings, there was no clear sign of an imminent departure.
WoW! Thought the Blau was like a 'crowning achievement.' Surprising News.
Posted by: Joeshico | August 11, 2009 at 02:35 PM
Cuts ties...that sounds pretty drastic. Are they photo-shopping him out of photos too?
Posted by: Bryan | August 11, 2009 at 02:37 PM
Bryan,
That's my language... Heron Hill is only saying he "no longer works there." There's no indication as to what happened, whether they let him go or if he chose to go.
Posted by: Evan Dawson | August 11, 2009 at 02:43 PM
Uhm... wow!
Posted by: 1WineDude | August 12, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Very surprising. Either way, there must have been some sort of falling out.
It certainly looks like they want to go more upscale, judging by the employment ad. But I have to wonder if this part of it may have had something to do with Laszlo's departure:
"Strong desire to promote the winery through social media, key account visits and customer interaction as well as by working closely with PR/Marketing"
Even though he always appeared pretty willing to do publicity for the winery, perhaps they wanted to take it to another level and he wouldn't. (pure speculation, of course)
Posted by: Scott | August 12, 2009 at 03:01 PM
Scott,
I think that job description would be written no matter what the circumstances were. I have no other insight or news on this, but I have to think that for a guy like TL, high-quality winemaking would trump many other issues. But who knows...
Posted by: Evan Dawson | August 12, 2009 at 03:37 PM
I am grateful to you for sharing this information.
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