Another smoke thread

Adam_Lee · June 19, 2018, 1:22am

I think that, much like 2008, where the smoke was played up in the media but the spring frost was a widespread problem — smoke in 2017 will get the lions share of attention. But the early september heat spike across the state will effect far more Wines Than smoke.

Adam Lee
Clarice Wine Company

larry schaffer:

Otto Forsberg:

The smoke damage comes from unpicked fruit as the smoke phenolics permeate the porous grape skin. This is also why some whites can escape the smoke damage - the unwanted compounds get leached out from the skins mainly over skin maceration.

You are correct - but this was a ‘unique’ situation where there might have been tanks that were inundated with smoke and/or ash. I’m not saying it happened - and Adam is saying he knows of nothing like this - but in the middle of harvest, and with folks having to get out ASAP, I can imagine that there’s always the chance that it did.

We also know that some wineries were inaccessible for awhile - and some lost power for awhile. That could and would mean that jackets on tanks would have not been on, and smaller tanks perhaps may not have been punched down or pumped over for awhile. I have not heard of any ‘stuck’ ferments, but it would not surprise me if there were.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see - I know that folks won’t want to think about this and no, I’m not a ‘the sky is falling’ kind of guy - but I can certainly imagine some of these scenarios taking place and possibly affecting the fermentations and subsequent wines.

Cheers.

Otto_Forsberg · June 19, 2018, 7:52am

larry schaffer:

Otto Forsberg:

The smoke damage comes from unpicked fruit as the smoke phenolics permeate the porous grape skin. This is also why some whites can escape the smoke damage - the unwanted compounds get leached out from the skins mainly over skin maceration.

You are correct - but this was a ‘unique’ situation where there might have been tanks that were inundated with smoke and/or ash. I’m not saying it happened - and Adam is saying he knows of nothing like this - but in the middle of harvest, and with folks having to get out ASAP, I can imagine that there’s always the chance that it did.

We also know that some wineries were inaccessible for awhile - and some lost power for awhile. That could and would mean that jackets on tanks would have not been on, and smaller tanks perhaps may not have been punched down or pumped over for awhile. I have not heard of any ‘stuck’ ferments, but it would not surprise me if there were.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see - I know that folks won’t want to think about this and no, I’m not a ‘the sky is falling’ kind of guy - but I can certainly imagine some of these scenarios taking place and possibly affecting the fermentations and subsequent wines.

Cheers.

Yes, that’s true. It’s definitely a rare situation, but I guess stuff like that could happen. However, I have no idea whether this would result in the fault known as smoke taint.

I remember reading an article on smoke taint research (probably AWRI) and IIRC, the smoke taint usually isn’t noticeably immediately, but instead develops over time, normally taking 1 to 2 years before appearing. That’s also why some producers might prefer to keep the wines to themselves long enough to see whether they are affected - instead of either dumping the whole batch or releasing faulty wines.

larry_schaffer · June 19, 2018, 3:11pm

Here is a brief write up from Galloni on tasting through a bunch of samples of 2017 Napa wines along with some insight from winemakers / vyd managers.

One thing that is clear is that 2017 is more than just about the fires. The extreme flood in the Spring and then extreme temperatures in late Spring and then again over Labor Day weekend marked the vintage before those fires struck. There’s an interesting discussion about the use of ‘shade cloths’, something that we’ve heard more about for the last few years, where vineyard managers are trying to ‘protect’ their fruit from extreme heat after veraison. These are not only being used in Napa - I’ve seen their use in Paso and sparingly in SB County as well.

Cheers.