鈥淎nd we鈥檝e decided to pick a block of Malbec today,鈥� says Charlie Hoppes. He owns Fidelitas Winery in Richland. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e gonna go check out how the picking鈥檚 going.鈥�
It鈥檚 harvest season across much of the West. But the wine grapes in Washington are late 鈥� by about two weeks.
We鈥檙e at the Red Mountain American Viticulture Area, looking out at more than 2,000 acres of vineyard vines and grapes that are ready 鈥� or nearly ready 鈥� for harvest.
鈥淭he crop was heavy, but there was still, like, a lot of green berries and green clusters sort of left behind. And this latest is really unusual. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever seen that,鈥� says Hoppes.
Growers like Hoppes had many challenges to deal with this season 鈥� from record-breaking heat, little rain 鈥� and smoke from nearby wildfires.
That smoke can seep into the fruit, giving the wine produced from them an ashy and smokey flavor. While they haven鈥檛 been as bad this year, the wildfires of 2020 blanketed states across the West.
鈥淲e had a week in September, there, where we didn鈥檛 see the sun. And it鈥檚 always a concern,鈥� says Hoppes. 鈥淎nd having, you know, WSU, and Tom Collins, and right here has helped us a lot trying to tackle the issue.鈥�
In his office at Washington State University鈥檚 Wine Science Center, Professor Tom Collins is preparing for his next enology class. He鈥檚 studied how smoke exposure affects grapes for years, and just submitted the team鈥檚 most recent findings to the journal Nature.
There are 17 researchers working on the issue of smoke-exposed wine grapes between UC Davis, Oregon State University, and WSU. Collins said he worked closely with OSU鈥檚 lab for testing these smoke flavor causing compounds.
鈥淚n a nutshell, what this first paper is to say is, we鈥檝e identified this class of compounds, and we think we know how they get there,鈥� says Collins.
And if you know what causes the smokey flavors, he says scientists can work on how to remove them from the wine.
Back at the Fidelitas winery, enologist Rebecca Albert had to do a lot of work to mitigate the damaged grapes from the 2020 vintage. But removing the smoke compounds is a delicate balancing act.
鈥淪o you鈥檙e also kind of tasting what the wine and the juice tastes like to be like, well, I can use this yeast on it. Well, the sugars are really high. So the alcohol is going to be really high, I can鈥檛 use this. So there鈥檚 a lot more like decisions to be made with numbers, but also with tastes,鈥� says Albert.
Creating blends of different grape types was one way winemakers salvaged the 2020 harvest. Fidelitas winemaker Mitch Venohr is glad the researchers have made strides in identifying the smokey compounds.
鈥淣ow 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?鈥� Venohr says.
Tom Collins has some thoughts on that too.
Most of us are familiar with the Air Now website to check air quality during wildfire season. He says a lot of those sensors are in towns, to assess risk to human health.
鈥淏ecause of topographical differences, wind direction, we think it鈥檚 important to have sensor networks that are in places where agriculture is happening,鈥� says Collins.
The sensors monitor weather conditions, the location of wildfires, and make predictions about where the smoke might end up. This could help growers better prepare and make decisions about when to harvest wine grapes.
Nearly 100 sensors are spread throughout vineyards in California, Oregon, and Washington.
鈥淪o up and down the Yakima Valley, Lake Chelan Wahluke Slope, Royal Slope, Walla Walla 鈥� we鈥檙e hitting all the major growing areas, we鈥檒l have some down in the Columbia Gorge, later before the season ends,鈥� says Collins.
The goal, he said, is to have as many people as they can looking into the issue 鈥� and coming up with the answers the industry 鈥� and wine drinkers 鈥� are looking for.