Page 49 - Grapevine July-August 2019

Around The Vineyard

duration of smoke were so intense that damage experimenting with winemaking practices that can
occurred irrespective of grape variety. There is a mitigate smoke taint to some extent. One such
consensus on two factors related to smoke taint, method is “flash détente,” where volatile com-
however: smoke taint is not a health hazard, nor do pounds are removed from the grapes by heating
tainted aromas pass from one harvest year to the them to about 180° F and sending them into a
next. vacuum chamber to be cooled. While this process
may remove some volatile aromas, it is not 100%
Testing and Mitigating effective.

As concerns about the risks of smoke taint contin- According to an American Wine Society blog, “it
ue to grow, many research institutions and private may remove the taint below the detection thresh-
firms are offering tests for smoke taint by mea- old of approximately five to six ppm if the level
suring two of the main volatile phenols in smoke, of smoke taint is slightly over that amount, but it
guaiacol, and 4-methylguaiacol. Tests include is not going to take a 50-ppm smoke taint level
pre-harvest berry testing, as well as sensory assess- and lower it to three.” Even then, adds the blog,
ment of a small-scale ferment made from the same “it is difficult to say what aromatic precursors in
grapes. While these tests may be objective, they the wine may react with the smoke taint volatiles
do not consider the arbitrary factor of whether the making the taint detectable at lower levels.” Other
wine is significantly damaged. “It’s very subjective,” options for removal include using reverse osmosis,
Eddy said. “Some can taste smoke taint right away; but this method is said only to be a temporary fix,
others can’t. Some can taste it in certain varieties, and the smoke taint returns over time. Filtering and
some in others. Everybody has different recognition fining agents may also be effective, but the pro-
for smoke, alcohol, sugar and other characteristics.” cesses will remove many desirable attributes from

Winemakers, too, are getting into the act and the wine as well.

877-892-5332 The Grapevine • July - August 2019 Page 47

Grapevine Main Pages GV070819_Layout 1-1 .indd 47 6/18/19 3:20 PM