This article contains scientific facts, as well as the researcher’s own personal opinion, about the emerging thinking around smoke ‘taint’ in wine.
Economic impact of smoke events
The economic impact of smoke events near vineyards on producers can be devastating.
Our research into the Elgin fire of 2017 indicated that an economic loss of around R5-million was incurred by the farmers we spoke to, with some abandoning their top/flagship ranges.
Similarly fires in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley in 2019 burned vineyards and had massive impacts on the winemaking community.
If we go back slightly further, the 2015 fire that savaged the Peninsula also impacted producers in the region severely. And these are just the big events.
At some point each decade (or even more frequently), every Western Cape vineyard will likely be exposed to a range of smoke-associated volatile phenols (VPs), which may then transfer to wine.1
Do we expect producers to write off their entire harvest, and be more financially exposed than they already might be in these extremely tough economic conditions?
Let’s consider what happened in Australia and Oregon.
Consumer reaction to smoky wine: the burning issue
As most people know, Australia was hit by devastating wildfires in 2019/20.
Bushfires in Australia, just as in the Western Cape, are a widespread and regular occurrence, but the 2019/20 fire season was devastating for people, animals and the wine industry.
M. Allen2 explored this issue with Australian winemakers and found that a number of them had decided to be upfront about the smoke issue with their customers, recommending that the wines were not kept, but consumed as quickly as possible.
Surprisingly, the smoke-affected wines sold well, some even at premium prices.
Previously, even a hint of smoke taint had been seen as completely off-putting for consumers, but it seemed that there was an unexpected emotional aspect involved.
The devastation caused by the 2019/20 fire season, and its massive impact on the industry, had led to some ‘philanthropic support’ amongst consumers.
The combination of drought and fire on the Australian wine industry had made consumers realise they needed to help or see a lot of small producers go under. So, they bought the wine, and they drank it.
One winery owner in Allen’s article noted that there is far too much of a fuss made about smoke taint, and that it “isn’t as much of an issue for wine consumers as winemakers think it is”.
Customers saw the smoky character as a feature of the wine, not a fault, and were happy to try something different.
Allen suggests that this may be an indication that the market is maturing, and able to have ‘nuanced discussion’ instead of simply writing the entire vintage off.
In Oregon, hit by devastating fires in 2020, opinions amongst consumers also seemed to shift.
As many as 70% of Oregon producers make fewer than 5 000 cases of wine a year,3 so these small operations cannot afford to spend a whole year without production.
Thus, despite the pall of smoke over winemaking areas, producers went ahead and made wine.
Various strategies were employed (minimal pressing, wood treatment and rosé production instead of red), but the author notes that consumers are not so quick to call all smokiness in wine ‘taint’.
Predicting very negative consumer reactions to smokiness in some vintages may not actually be accurate.
Much more research is needed on consumer acceptance and rejection thresholds for smoke taint compounds.
Certainly, Australian customers appear to be thinking about smoke in wine differently now to how they once did.
Perhaps it’s time for South Africans to follow suit?
So what?
The effect of vintage and terroir on a wine is not something anyone argues about.
We all know it exists, and often, it overrides everything else (very frustrating if you are a viticultural researcher).
Vintage effect embraces a whole range of factors from microclimate, flora, fauna, vineyard management and even the vineyard microbiome.
Like S. Cole-Johnson,3 and some of the Oregon and Australian winemakers, I too think of smoke as a part of the vintage and the Western Cape (in our case) terroir.
What you are tasting in your glass is an event that happened in a particular place at a specific time.
Obviously not everyone will feel the same about a wine with hints of smoke, and it will be up to the individual winemaker or winemaking team what is done with a smoke-affected vintage based on their knowledge of their customers and their cultivars.
Eucalyptol and volatile phenols
Coming back to the issue of a chemical and sensory flavour profile as an expression of terroir.
D. Capone4 and co-workers in Australia identified a few of the chemical markers in Cabernet Sauvignon that highlighted the role of various factors in defining regional typicity.
Not all these markers are internal responses of grape metabolism to the environment, some are external, like eucalyptol and the volatile phenols.
Returning to the Coonawarra Cab
I loved the olfactory experience I had with the Jacob’s Creek wine, and apparently, I am not alone.
The presence of eucalyptol isn’t off-putting to consumers. Capone4 also showed that Australian consumers actually preferred wines that had been spiked with low levels of eucalyptol compared to clean controls.
It has been suggested that tasters from other countries are more likely to pick up the green notes in Australian wine, as the locals have become de-sensitised to it, and thus Australian winemakers are divided over whether it’s desirable. I’m going to side with those who say that it is.
Obviously, an overwhelming eucalyptus attribute, which dominates the wine to the detriment of everything else would be unacceptable, but a subtle eucalyptus, minty note that is there as a direct result of grapes being grown in the Australian landscape does not seem to pose a big problem for the average consumer.
Revisiting smokiness
Likewise with volatile phenols and smokiness.
A greater understanding of the chemistry behind terroir expression (including adverse events of any kind impacting the landscape) will provide producers with knowledge that can be used for promoting their wines and enhancing sales.
A greater understanding of how and why consumers make choices, and what their acceptance and rejection thresholds are for smoke taint-related compounds like volatile phenols will also help winemakers to make decisions around production and amelioration strategies.
Olfactory effects of volatile phenols in red wine.
Final thoughts
A decade and a half had passed since those grapes had ripened in an Australian vineyard, and I was transported back to that time and place by the evocative aroma of gum trees. This is, of course, the magic of wine.
Not only is it a time capsule, but it is also a place capsule.
What other product can claim that so effectively?
The sunshine, the wind and even the people who worked the land and the wine are somehow trapped in the bottle.
A little greenness does nothing to dissuade the average international consumer from loving an Australian Cab.
Why then are we so determined to deny the fact of our landscape, our terroir?
Why should we Western-Capers not trap a little carefully curated fynbos-smoke in the bottle occasionally, to transport others back to a different time and place?
It is, after all, our history trapped in a bottle.
Abstract
Discussing the exogenous or external factors that form part of world-famous wine terroir in Part 1, this opinion piece lays out the rationale for well-managed volatile phenols derived from inevitable wildfire events to form a part of our own Western Cape terroir expression.
Part 2 shares some insights into consumer reactions to smoke events around the world, demonstrating that wine lovers are not always predictable in their reactions, and quality is in the mind (and on the palate) of the beholder.
References
- Ristic, R., Danner, L., Johnson, T.E., Meiselman, H.L., Hoek, A.C., Jiranek, V. & Bastian, S., 2019. Wine-related aromas for different seasons and occasions: Hedonic and emotional.
- Allen, M., 2021. Smoke taint – the Australian consumers’ view (6 September 2021). https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/smoke-taint-australian-consumers-view
- Cole-Johnson, S., 2021. Smoke taint – the view from Oregon (8 September). https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/smoke-taint-view-oregon
- Capone, D., Boss, P., Souza Gonzaga, L., Bastian, S. & Jeffery, D., 2020. Characterising the chemical typicity of regional Cabernet Sauvignon wines. XIIIth International Terroir Congress, 17 – 18 November 2020. Adelaide, Australia.
– For more information, contact Marianne McKay at marianne@sun.ac.za.
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