I thought of our ferments like a pitcher of juice in the fridge if left open , within a few days it ’ ll still be drinkable , but eventually , they might soak-up that jar of pickles that your husband said he put away but just drunkenly shoved to the back near that old box of baking soda . “ Wrap it up ” is what my HS guidance counselor always said , so I took that sage advice to heart .
So , what about the fruit hanging on the vine you ask ? Well , good question you precocious little scamp . For this , I ’ ve had to use thinking a bit more complex than , “ No Glove , No love .” In essence , the compounds that worry us about “ smoke taint ” ( guaiacol *) have been shown predominantly in vineyards where leaf uptake has had time to distribute these compounds to the berry inner membrane , i . e ., early season fires where active photosynthesis and berry development are both occurring at the same time . That is not right now in Napa / Sonoma / Mendocino / or Lake Counties where these fires have been taking place . So , that means we ’ re safe , right ? As the great Lee Corso would say , “ Not so fast my friend !” The amount of ash and smoke produced by these fires was something on a different level , and grape samples were taken in to different labs during the days / weeks after the fires have shown levels of both free and bound Guaiacol , so the plan becomes , how do we keep those levels below sensory thresholds , and that ’ s where the proactive nature from the vineyard to the winery has been on a scale that would be difficult to recreate . Lab analyses being done from places working off generators , vineyards running spray rigs on ATV ’ s to knock off any ash , wineries rinsing grapes in ozonated water and then shaking dry on sorting tables . The attention to detail is that of a 36-year-old man scanning a scrabble board after a 3-game losing streak … NOTHING GETS MISSED THIS TIME .
But will all of this work ?! “ We hope so ,” is the only answer we can give at this time . At the time of the fires , the wine regions throughout the area had picked anywhere from 75-100 % of the grapes planted , with most places being “ picked out ” in the range of 90 % -ish . The grapes that were picked before the fires should be stellar , any wine put down to barrel has very little ( I ’ d say zero but to be safe ) chance of any increase in the Guaicol compound , and I ’ ve seen firsthand that wine in tank if closed up was able to stay protected ( this is not PR spin , this is fact ). As for the grapes picked after the fires we ’ re still in a bit of wait in see mode , Guaicol has shown that it will increase post primary fermentation ( sugar being converted to alcohol ) and the sensory perception is quite difficult at this stage . As I ’ ve noted , we can test for the Guaicol , but the threshold for sensory perception is a bit ‘ hazy ’ at this point … But in all seriousness , certain wines and varietals have a strong ability to absorb these aromatic compounds and add to the complexity of the wine , but at this point , it ’ s just too early to make any definitive statement , call me in January when they ’ ve had some time to sit in barrels . But this is clearly not the time to pan the vintage , as lost or not salvageable because that ’ s just not the case .
So where do we find ourselves now , as a community , just a short couple of weeks later ( as I write this )? Parts of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County look like they ’ ve been bombed out … Not hyperbole , square blocks that look like WWII ruins that I ’ ve only seen in Ken Burns documentaries . A mile from where I live in downtown Napa I saw homes first hand that had nothing more left than maybe a twisted bed frame and a car port . For the entire week after the first night , we were all glued to the TV and social media as a new fire popped up , or 3 fires became one . I spent three days seeing one fire ( that was joined by two others ) converge in all directions around my Father ’ s home ( Near Oakmont / Kenwood , CA if you care to follow at home ) not knowing what he ’ d go back to .
But after all of that , as we literally and metaphorically now rise from the ashes I ’ m filled with such a strong sense of community and pride in seeing the true resiliency from this region . I ’ ll be honest ; I ’ m worried about this wine vintage like every single person that works or is connected to this industry . So many countless friends and family that have made this region home depend on the wines from out here to be , not just good every year , but great . With that said , after seeing first responders risking their lives to evacuate and protect , networks of people connecting with one another to make sure they were safe and the people they knew were safe , volunteers in numbers so great that they were turned away and then said fuck you Red Cross I ’ m going to help anyway ( I don ’ t say this as an FU to the Red Cross , but there ’ s something there ), donations to the point where no more donations could be accepted , and evacuees that I knew had nothing to go back to but were helping others they felt in MORE need . I came away knowing that no matter what , we ’ ll bounce back , it ’ s what we do . The human spirit is something to behold .
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