The deadly wildfires that ravaged the U.S. West Coast in 2020 also resulted in huge losses for Napa Valley winemakers whose products were permeated by an acrid taste known as smoke taint. Now, scientists are seeking a conclusive way to chemically analyze which grapes and wines are subject to smoke taint and which are not, according to an article from CNET. Without clear metrics, winemakers must rely on guesswork as they did with the 2020 harvest, which reportedly resulted in rejected wine, lost product and tainted wine that was sold as high quality resulting in a hit to the vineyard’s reputation.
Current research into smoke taint focuses on smoke-derived compounds called volatile phenols, according to the article. But these don’t tell the whole story and can still result in compromised product. Using quantitative mass spectrometry among other sophisticated methods, researchers from UC Santa Cruz reportedly were able to pinpoint several biomarkers associated with phenolic diglycosides – the structures formed when phenols bind to sugar – in their samples of grapes and wine. These structures are stable in wine during the aging process, but when they hit certain enzymes, such as those present in saliva, they release the unwanted taint.
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