Death, taxes, and wildfires are some of the earth’s events that are difficult to control and generally inevitable. With recent fires along the West Coast, down through South America and Australia, and even throughout Spain and Portugal, many of the globes most prized wine regions have been affected. Exposing grapes to smoke can result in wines that develop unfavorable sensory profiles. Compounds in the smoke bind with the grapes and usually lead to characteristics that are described as burnt, smokey, bacon-like, medicinal, and ashy. But if this does occur, all may not be lost! Researchers suggest several options to minimize the effect of smoke taint, including the addition of barrels, wood adjuncts, and tannins. Science has shown that increasing wines’ complexity can reduce and even refine the unexpected profiles brought on by smoke. Brewers and distillers have long been capitalizing on the unrivaled flavors pulled from fresh used barrels sourced from all cor

JUNE 28, 2024 – Winners have been announced in the 17th annual Women’s International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWWSC). The competition, which took place June 10-12 in Santa Rosa, Calif., was founded on the premise that the majority of wine purchased for home consumption is bought by women. The IWWSC judging panels consist entirely of professional women in the wine and spirits industries — winemakers, distillers, marketers, buyers, sommeliers, educators and journalists.  “As always, the International Women’s Wine & Spirits Competition shined a spotlight on hundreds of deserving wines,” says Debra Del Fiorentino, owner of Wine Competitions Management & Production, which organizes and presents IWWSC. “And even though entry is open to all winemakers regardless of gender, I found it gratifying that six of this year’s sweepstakes wines were created by women. And our overall wine winner also was named Best Woman Winemaker

The Australian ‘Black Summer’ of 2019/20, which saw bushfires destroy swathes of vineyard land across the country was a dramatic reminder of the growing challenges facing winemakers around the world. We spoke to leading Australian winemakers and lab technicians to find out how agile decision-making is helping to deal with the consequences of global warming. Offering alarming proof of the escalating effects of climate change, in November 2019 bushfires blazed through New South Wales, scorching more than five million hectares of land following Australia’s hottest and driest year on record. In December 2019, the fires swept through the Adelaide Hills, destroying 650 ha of vines in the region, and wiping out entire vineyards. Making matters worse, the smoke from the fires was far-reaching, rendering vineyard plots from Canberra to the Hunter Valley useless. Ravaging an estimated 24.3 million hectares of land in total and destroying over 3,000 buildings, the September 2019

Afternoon Brief, May 8th

Willamette Valley Wineries Hire Fire Litigation Lawyers to Investigate Suing Pacific Power for Grape and Wine Losses Arising from the 2020 Labor Day Fires: Today Willamette Valley Vineyards, Brigadoon Wine Co., Samuel Robert Winery, Retraite, LLC (fka Lingua Franca – LS Vineyards Holdings, LLC), and Elk Cove Vineyards Inc. announced they have hired a well-known legal team to investigate filing suit against Pacific Power, a division of PacifiCorp, in the Oregon state circuit courts...

Afternoon Brief, December 19th

California’s Jackson Family Wines Sues Insurer Over $430 Million in Wildfire Damage Claims: The Santa Rosa-based wine company alleges that the insurance company is delaying claims from the Tubbs, Kincade and Glass fires in the past five years...

September brought an intense heatwave to much of California, with a ‘heat dome’ – a high-pressure system that creates and then encases heat below it – locking in a week of temperatures at 105-115°F. Growers had to make a call as to whether to bring picking forward to avoid the risk of bunch-weight loss, raisining and desiccation, but at potentially sub-optimal ripeness levels, or brave it out. The heat helped speed along and condense the harvest, potentially causing logjams at wineries as they struggle to cope with a lot of grapes coming in all at once – another consideration for growers when deciding whether or not to pick.  The intense daytime heat led to greater emphasis on hand-picking at night – when temperatures were sometimes still in excess of 75°F – and meant extra care had to be taken with the storing and transportation of grapes: chilling capacity has been important. Generators were also at the ready in case of blackouts

Decision Time: Preparing for the Risk Factors of Smoke & Fire Exposure Wildfires have become an annual concern for grape growers around the globe, bringing devastation to crops and affecting wine quality for entire vintages. WIN’s latest Growing Forward webinar will prepare winegrowers to make more informed decisions in the event their vineyards are impacted by fire and/or smoke. Topics will range from determining the level of risk, what should or should not be in growers’ contracts, leveraging the correct data to mitigate risk, negotiating access permits for essential jobs in the event of an evacuation, farmworker safety protocols, contingency harvest plans, and more. Presented by industry experts, this session is for any grape grower looking to be better positioned in the event their grapes are at risk for smoke exposure. Register here. Session Panel:  Adam Koeppel, Co-Founder & CEO / Agrology  Riggs Lokka, Assistant Vineyard Manager / Emeritus Vineyards

Erica Harrop, President and CEO of Global Package LLC, announced that Sales Account Manager, Sue Keechler, will be a guest speaker at the Napa Thrives Climate Action Six-Event Series being held June 7th through 23rd at the Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena CA. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/napa-thrives-climate-action-events-186579. Topics for the Series include: Saving Water & Water Efficiency, Saving Energy & Energy Efficiency, Preventing Waste & Green Purchasing, Integrated Pest Management & Prevention, and Social Equity, Diversity & Inclusion. There will be an Acceleration Gala on Saturday, July 30, at 6pm.            A strong believer in implementing sustainable practices in the industry, Harrop is a member of Napa Green and has led efforts in sustainable packaging. Keechler’s presentation topic will be “Lighten up and Ship Green” at the Preventing Waste & Green Purchasing ev