How NW winemakers are adapting to smoky growing seasons

In 2020, western wildfires gave the Northwest's wine grapes an ashy, smoky taste. This year, Washington is expecting a record harvest, but vintners are still figuring out the best way to deal with the impact of smoke taint.

Creating blends of different grape types was one way winemakers salvaged the 2020 harvest. But scientists are looking for other ways to approach the problem.

That smoke can seep into the fruit, giving the wine produced an ashy, smoky flavor. While they haven’t been as bad this year, the wildfires of 2020 blanketed states across the West.

In his office at Washington State University’s Wine Science Center, professor Tom Collins has studied how smoke exposure affects grapes for years, and just submitted his team’s most recent findings to the journal Nature.

“In a nutshell, what this first paper is to say is, we've identified this class of compounds, and we think we know how they get there," Collins said.

And if you know what causes the smoky flavors, he says scientists can work on how to remove them from the wine.

Mitch Venohr, a winemaker with Fidélitas Wines in Richland, Wash., said he is glad the researchers have made strides in identifying the smoky compounds.

“Now the next big question is: How do we specifically remove those from wine? Or are there things that can be done in the vineyard to prevent those smoke compounds from getting into the grapes?" Venohr said.

Read the full story from Northwest Public Broadcasting here.