Nearly three dozen are associated with smoky odor and flavor, but a number of those also are connected with desired character given to wine via toasted barrels, the researchers wrote. The issue came to the forefront after a string of Northern California wildfires starting in 2015.īurning vegetation produces over 500 such volatile phenols. Led by UC Santa Cruz oceanic biochemist and small-scale vintner Phil Crews, the research focused on one of the biggest problems with detection of current and future problems from these smoke compounds in grapes and wine.

The study was published March 3 in the Journal of Natural Products, an open-access publication of the American Chemical Society and the American Society of Pharmacognsy. The research also puts forward baseline - pre-wildfire - levels for these compounds across grape varieties by analyzing samples deemed affected and not affected by smoke.

They say it’s a faster way to know how much of a problem, if at all, they will become as the wine is produced and before it reaches the bottle. They advocate for direct measurement of those biomarkers, rather than the indirect measurement common now. Researchers at SC Laboratories analyzed the samples looking for signs of six chemical markers most associated with “ashy,” “bitter” and “smoky” odors and flavors colloquially called “smoke taint.”

New research claims to give wine grape growers, wineries and insurance companies a better way to figure out whether wildfire smoke has damaged the crop on the vine, a concern that led to much fruit in Napa and Sonoma counties to go unpicked in 2020.īut a key West Coast scientist in this field, while noting the advancements in the process of detecting “smoke taint” in the study, urges caution with promoting it as the best solution, given current lab capacity and crop insurance policies.ĭetermination of smoke damage is critical because it can factor into payment of crop insurance claims.Ī team of California Central Coast scientists and laboratory analysts with North Coast agricultural advisers studied 218 wine and fruit samples for eight major grape varieties from 21 appellations in California and Oregon, including the North Coast, from the 2017 through 2021 vintages.

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