ETS Laboratories, a go-to tester for the wine business in the region, has made significant upgrades to its main St. Helena laboratory since the testing crunch of the 2020 season, according to Gordon Burns, president and technical director. Additions of equipment, personnel and lab space allows the lab to analyze more than double the grape and wine samples daily. “It’s a pretty massive undertaking,” he said. The investment amounts to millions of dollars in equipment alone. In an area hit by more frequent, intense wildfires, testing for chemical compounds that suggest there may be an issue with unwanted smoky character in wine increasingly has become part of vintner-grower contracts. Yet last year brought the convergence of a number of large blazes burning between the Canadian and Mexican borders right around harvest time. “But that doesn’t mean that all the grapes are smoke impacted,” Burns said. “That there is a wildfire does not mean that i

Afternoon Brief, July 29th

New York Star Sommelier Arrested and Accused of Arson: Caleb Ganzer, wine director and co-owner of La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels, allegedly set fire to outdoor dining spaces at other restaurants...

Ellipse Analytics Laboratories Announces Smoke Taint Impact Testing for the Wine Industry

National Accredited Smoke Taint Impact Analysis Delivers Support to Wineries and Winegrowers as the Threat of Wildfires and Smoke Continues to Grow Denver, CO, July 28, 2021 – Denver based Ellipse Analytics announced today its official ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation for smoke taint impact testing by ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), received on June 21, 2021.  Ellipse Analytics passed […]