The 2020s -- The Smoke Taint Decade?

In the continental American Pacific Coast states, the 2020s have been the decade of wildfires thus far. From the horrific fires that decimated a number of wineries in California Wine Country in 2020 to the terrible fires in early summer blazing heat in Oregon this year, the fires in both years produced smoke that was detected by humans roughly 3000 miles to the east in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states.

There are a number of clear messages from this, but since what we are worried about here are wine effects, let's consider them. First, if smoke was detectable 3000 miles away, there is no doubt that much closer to the fires that the smoke concentration was extreme.

What is there in smoke that damages wine? When we burn wood, and it can be something as simple as lighting a cigarette or firing up the grill, particularly volatile phenols are released into the air. For whatever reason and I know that I don't have a direct explanation, grapes absorb these phenols particularly easily. What they do, or so I am led to believe is they bind to glycosides in the natural grape sugar. By itself, this is not a problem. During fermentation, however, the phenols break apart from the glycosides producing the same aromas and flavors found in smoke.

I know. Some readers might think that is good. They love putting a hunk of meat on the smoker and slow cooking it to give it that outdoorsy smoky flavor. For more than a few people, that is perhaps their favorite style of food.

Wine is different, however, Read the descriptors of smoke-tainted wine. You don't see the word smoky or a description centered around some sort of wood like hickory. Instead, you see things like damp ashtray or smoldering cigarette. These are neither pleasant tastes nor aromas.

What you might be thinking now is that it takes an awful lot of smoke for people to notice it. After all, our sense of smell is nowhere near as fine as that of our canine friends. Well, the part about dogs having a keener sense of smell than us is true, but we can detect the effects of smoke somewhere between 2.5 and 5 parts per million (ppm). That's not very much.

So, in the 2020 and 2021 vintages in the US and perhaps in Canada as well, expect a fair number of smoke-tainted wines. Some will be undrinkable and others just poor, but many will not be desirable. On the other hand, there are techniques that can mitigate the effects of smoke developed primarily by the Australian Wine Research Institute and at the University of California at Davis. These techniques are expensive. 

These vintages are not released yet (the 2021s haven't been harvested), but when they are, let the buyer beware.