The initial analyzes carried out by the Union of Oenologists of France in the vineyards of southern Gironde close to the fires are “reassuring”. The molecules responsible for the “smoke flavor” ended up detected in only negligible quantities.
A taste of smoke and ash in wines: this has been a concern for the southern Gironde wine industry, following the two fires that devastated 28,000 hectares this summer months. The Union of Oenologists of France carried out 400 analyzes in the vineyards of southern Gironde. “The to start with analytical results are reassuring,” said Vincent Renouf, basic director of the Excell laboratory, all through a conference on the subject matter held at the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences (ISVV), in Villenave d’Ornon, on Tuesday 30 August.
Reduced concentrations
What could have induced this “smoky flavor” are the molecules, the volatile phenols, ensuing from the combustion of wood. The latter penetrate the flower when the fruit is ripe plenty of. The style aspect associated with these compounds is obvious from the winemaking.
The “smoky style” is odorless, characterised by a “bitterness”, an “ashtray flavor” on the complete, comprehensive Nicolas Quillé, specialized director and manager of the Crimson Wine Group in the United States. Faced with the difficulty adhering to the most up-to-date fires in California, the latter recommended in specific to filter the air in the cellars and to decrease maceration times.
Winemakers and laboratories are doing work on answers to mask the taste of smoke, this kind of as activated carbon, in particular tested in Australia, a state hit by huge fires in 2019 and 2020. In Gironde, exactly where the vineyards were being minor uncovered to the fumes, pretty reduced in the evaluation disclosed concentrations of molecules resulting from the combustion of wood, in the order of “micrograms per kilo”.
Initial fires
“We went seeking for details to discover out, for example, the impacting exposure time for vines,” clarifies Vincent Labergère, common manager of Château de Rayne Vigneau in Sauternes, contacted by Rue89 Bordeaux. For the duration of the fires, its plots were spared from smoke many thanks to “headwinds from the north-west and north-east”.
The specialists of the sector as a result display “no problem” for the next classic, as evidenced by Pierre-Baptiste Fontaine, director of the corporation for the protection and administration of AOC Sauternes and Barsac wines:
“The winemakers are relaxed on this concern. We weren’t under the clouds of smoke. Moreover, we ended up in a vegetative period of time where grapes have been hesitant to soak up molecules that could crack down into smoke molecules. On the contrary, we had a somewhat favorable summertime year for the generation of a excellent classic. ”
Contrary to what took place in the United States or Australia, the fires in Gironde occurred nicely before the harvest. Grapes did not have plenty of sugar for the smoke molecules to penetrate.
Existing at the ISVV convention, Nathalie Delattre, Senator from Gironde and co-president of the Countrywide Association of Elected Associates of Vine and Wine (ANEV), insisted on the required “anticipation” of the sector in the face of global warming. ANEV also challenged the Point out to request that a review be funded to examine the affect of fires on French vineyards.
–
