This is the internet, sir. We will not wait and see, we will wildly speculate and form unchangeable conclusions early on based on little or no information.
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You speak the truth. What could possibly go wrong?
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Just read this nugget on WS as part of a larger article. First, it seems clear to me even the heads of great estates have an incomplete idea how taint actually works, as all they keep saying is “the fires are not here.” They seem to be thinking that if they don’t burn down there is not a problem.
Second, although there is definitely something to nearby smoke vs.far away, this expert (based on his experience last year in one region), does not even seem to understand how taint fully gets into the berry. It does not only “penetrate” grapes, or even where the grapes meet the stem, it also comes in through the leaves, which then sends the compounds down the shoots and into the grapes.
In 2020 Napa wineries also though the waxy surface gets ash or smoke on it and then it transports inwards, but many vineyards sprayed their grapes down in an effort to remove that and then they grapes got sprayed up the goldola into the tank after sorting at the winery too. Before and after lab results on showed little difference in taint levels because it does not address the leaf aspect.
One thing we cannot prove but I and others did see is that if the fires happen when the vine is bringing energy into the vine to ripen the grape, it makes it worse. And when the fire happens when the grape is starting to dehydrate out water and the stomata is more closed, it helps. Unfortunately, the time in which the vine is bringing in the most energy is at veraison, when is right about… now. This is why, in my opinion, the 2017 fires did not result in much taint in Napa and 2020 was a disaster, here. In October of 2017 the vines were done and dehydration was underway. There are less pathways for the compounds to travel and taint the juice.
Thus, watering the vines open the stomata up and may have the opposite of the intended effect. It makes it worse. The fact BDX dry farms is a major plus, however I hear they are asking to water the vines now in order to reduce the effects of their brutal heat wave, This may be solving one problem at the expense of another.
Finally, yes there are some emerging treatments for reducing smoke taint, but RO does this at the cost of emasculation of the wine. It is not a solution at this time, at least for wines aiming for greatness. No satisfactory solution has yet been found I’ve ever tasted in tests that turns a frog into a prince.
I really hope they avoid taint there, and since the fires are some distance from most of the grapes they have a shot. But this early language by them makes me fearful that not only do they not really understand as much as they think they do, but are already in marketing mode.
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As the old saying goes, it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.
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I thought I read in an article from a group in Australia doing research that taint compounds chemically bond to the grape skin. Cleaning the grapes had little to no affect.
I guess you’re inferring the juice can be contaminated as well via other routes. Seems logical.
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Out West we have a saying “liquor is for drinking, water is for killing”
(It sounds like a theme for Shelby Lynne to write a song about)
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It’s about to become worldwide saying. We around here will be drinking more wine I guess 
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Curious what the wines would be like if made from grapes harvested a month from now.
Amarone.
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Good answer
Pedantic hat on. Amarone is dried after harvest.
More like 17% undrinkable porty swill.
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The three heatwaves of 2026 stand out both for their intensity and their duration, to the point of all three joining the 2003 heatwave among the most severe episodes observed in France since the start of meteorological records.
In other words, we’ve just experienced the equivalent of nearly three 2003 heatwaves in a single summer. 2003, which once stood as a “trauma,” is now nothing more than a distant memory.
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Jura is starting. Talked to Katie Worobeck and they’re beginning as soon as possible. Earliest ever.
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Predictions are that this pattern of consecutive waves will be the norm in Europe going forward. Drought and low rivers are to be expected. Heat intensity will likely increase as well.
And yet there are those who still claim that climate change is a hoax.
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I’m not a climate change sceptic, on the contrary, but I’m always a bit wary of the French tendency to claim “On n’a jamais vu ça!” every time something odd happens with the weather, because very often they’re just exaggerating. When our first heatwave hit towards the end of May, I thought it was just the usual banter all over again since it had been pretty cold before, and was fairly chilly afterwards. But then the next one hit…and then another one…and then yet another, so I compared with 2003, which is for me the benchmark year. Sure enough, we really haven’t seen the likes of this year before. In 2003, where I live (next to Auvers Sur Oise, to the north of Paris), we had 12 days when the temperature was equal to or higher than 30°. So far in 2026, we are at 32 days…with at least four more coming this week, and probably more after that. When I have time I’ll have a peek at the records for Pauillac, for example, but the pattern must be the same.
Of course, it was only two years ago that the summer was cold and wet, but It seems hard to believe that this year is not the first of many
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Exactly. People can predict all they want that this is the “new norm”, but it’s not a norm until it actually happens. If it happens more frequently than twice in 23 years with plenty of actual normal years in between, then there will be something to talk about at that time. So far the last couple of decades have produced some of the best vintages as a whole, much better than the average vintage in the 70s/80s.
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But the planet continues to heat up, that is undeniable, and will result in “new norms”.
Europe will be warmer. Will it be 2003 every year, probably not.
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Weather that was once considered extreme is becoming the “new normal”, according to the latest Met Office report on the UK’s climate.
Its latest assessment found that the hottest day of the year in southern England is now 4.5C warmer than it was between 1961 and 1990.
“We are right now living in a time of historic and unprecedented change,” said Mike Kendon, Met Office climate information scientist, adding that “evidence shows the climate of the 20th century has now gone”.