More than 90% of the wine in the United States is produced on the West Coast, but the region is also prone to wildfires—— Combustible combination This spelled disaster for the industry in 2020, which scientists are working to eliminate.
Tasting a good glass of wine, you might smell oak or red fruit. But if you drink wine made from smoke-infused grapes, it will taste like someone poured the contents of an ashtray into your glass.
Wine experts from three West Coast universities are working together to combat the threat, including developing spray coatings to protect grapes, pinpointing the elusive compound responsible for the nasty gray flavor, and deploying smoke sensors in vineyards to detect Better understand smoke behavior.
The U.S. government is providing millions of dollars in funding for their research. Breweries are also taking steps to protect their products and brands.
Major U.S. wine-producing regions are at increased risk as climate change worsens droughts and overgrown forests become flammable, with wildfires causing billions of dollars in damage in 2020.according to U.S. Department of AgricultureGrapes are the most valuable crop in the United States, with 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of grape-growing land, 96% of which are on the West Coast.
Winemakers around the world have Adapt to climate changeThis includes moving vineyards to cooler areas and planting drought- and heat-tolerant varieties. Scientists at Oregon State University, Washington State University and the University of California, Davis are addressing the additional and more immediate risks posed by wildfires.
“The key is the ability to continue making wine in areas where smoke exposure may be more common,” said Tom Collins, a wine scientist at Washington State University.
Researcher Cole Cerrato stood recently at OSU’s vineyards, nestled beneath the forested hills near the village of Alpine, turning on the fan and turning the heat in his Weber grill. Smoke blows through dryer vent hose. Smoke drifted over a row of grapes enclosed in a quasi-greenhouse made of plastic sheeting taped together.
Previously, Oregon State University associate professor Elizabeth Tomasino and her researchers made wine from grapes exposed to smoke in a MacGyvered device.
They found the sulfur-containing compound thiophenols in smoke-affected wines and determined they were responsible for the gray flavor along with “volatile phenols,” which Australian researchers identified as a factor more than a decade ago. Bushfires have long affected Australia’s wine industry. In Washington state, Collins confirmed that sulfur compounds were found in wine from Oregon vineyards exposed to smoke, but not in samples not exposed to smoke.
Scientists want to find out how thiophenols, which are undetectable in wildfire smoke, show up in smoke-affected wine and learn how to eliminate them.
“There’s still a lot of very interesting chemistry and very interesting research to start looking at more about these new compounds,” Serrato said. “We just don’t have the answers yet.”
Wine made from contaminated grapes can be so bad that it cannot be marketed. If it did hit the shelves, the winemaker’s reputation could be destroyed – a risk few would be willing to take.
In 2020, as record wildfires engulfed the West Coast, blanketing it with brown smoke, some California wineries refused to accept untested grapes. But most growers can’t find a place to analyze their grapes because laboratories are overwhelmed.
Industry losses in California alone amounted to $3.7 billion, according to an analysis conducted for industry groups by Jon Moramarco of consulting firm bw166. The losses were mainly due to the winery having to forego future wine sales.
“But what’s really driving this trend is, you know, a big influence is in Napa Valley, which produces some of the highest-priced grapes and wines in the United States,” Moramaco said. He added that if a lot of Cabernet Sauvignon is The grapes were ruined and “you probably lost 720 bottles of wine. If a bottle is worth $100, that adds up quickly.”
Between 165,000 and 325,000 tons of California wine grapes died on the vines in 2020 due to actual or perceived exposure to wildfire smoke, said Natalie Collins, president of the California Wine Grape Growers Association.
She said she hasn’t heard of any growers out of business due to wildfire impacts, but: “Many of our members have difficulty obtaining insurance due to fire risk in their areas, and if they can obtain insurance, the insurance rates are Astronomical numbers.”
Some winemakers are experimenting with techniques to reduce the effects of smoke, such as passing the wine through a membrane or treating it with carbon, but this can also cause the wine to lose its appealing nuances. Blending affected grapes with other grapes is another option. Limiting skin exposure by making rosé wine instead of red wine can reduce the concentration of smoke-flavoring compounds.
Washington State University’s Collins has been experimenting with spraying finely powdered kaolin or bentonite clay, a type of clay, mixed with water onto wine grapes to absorb substances from the smoke. These are then washed before harvesting. A spray-on coating is being developed at Oregon State University.
Meanwhile, dozens of smoke sensors have been installed on vineyards in the three states, funded in part by a $7.65 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“These instruments will be used to measure smoke-marking compounds,” said project leader Anita Oberholst at UC Davis. Such measurements are critical for developing mitigation strategies and determining smoke exposure risks, she said.
Greg Jones runs and is a director of his family’s Abacela Winery in southern Oregon’s Umpqua Valley. Oregon Wine Commissionpraising the efforts of scientists.
“This study really helped us find out a lot about whether we could take the fruit out of the vineyard and quickly find out if it contained potential compounds that might be causing the wine to be affected by smoke,” Jones said.
Collins predicted success.
“I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that we’re unlikely to find a magic bullet,” he said. “But we will find a strategy.”
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