Michigan Wineries Brace for Smoke Taint Threat
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- Shady Lane Cellars winemaker Kasey Wierzba watched smoke from distant Canadian and Minnesota wildfires blanket Suttons Bay last month, but said grapes are still in the early 'buckshot berry stage' and unlikely to be affected this season
- Michigan's nearly $9 billion wine industry faces a growing smoke taint risk, where smoke compounds bind to grape skins and create unwanted flavors—described as 'barbecued food' to 'burnt bacon'—that only emerge during fermentation and can't be measured in the field
- Michigan State University viticulture professor Paolo Sabbatini fielded 10 calls from concerned growers and said he's 'pretty confident' the recent smoke was too brief to damage grapes, with fires in Ontario and Minnesota having destroyed more than 64,000 acres according to the U.S. Forest Service
- Fires in southwestern France have already scorched more than 160 square miles near Bordeaux's vineyards, with ash falling 'directly on the fruit,' illustrating the kind of close-range smoke exposure Michigan winemakers fear as climate-driven fires intensify
- The latest U.S. farm bill draft includes a directive for more research and development into wine grapes and wildfire smoke exposure, reflecting growing federal recognition of the problem
- UC Davis viticulture chair Ben Montpetit warned there are no simple solutions to smoke taint—treatments to remove unwanted flavors can damage wine quality—and said 'there are going to be fires in the future, and unfortunately, they will impact wine regions'
Why it matters: Michigan's nearly $9 billion wine industry has so far dodged smoke damage because the smoke arrived too early in grape development, but winemakers are now racing to prepare for future events. With West Coast and Bordeaux-area vineyards already seeing smoke-laced vintages, Michigan faces adapting to a threat that turns climate change into a direct product defect.
