Winemaker Trials: Assessing Smoke Taint Risk by Comparing Plants Found in Forests and on Plains
The problem with studying grapes infected with smoke taint is that there is usually no control--grapes from the same vineyard that were not exposed to smoke--to compare, like a before-and-after trial. Washington State University Professor Tom Collins set up a control group of unaffected grapes and ones purposely exposed to judge the differences.
Winery: Washington State University Winemaker: Professor Tom Collins Trial Objective: The objective of the trial is to generate smoke-affected wines by exposing field-grown grapevines to simulated wildfire smoke. Summary: Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines at the WSU Prosser Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (IAREC) were exposed to simulated wildfire smoke during the 2017 growing season. For each variety, four rows of 30 vines were covered by temporary hoop-house structures, two rows each for the control and for the smoked treatment, for a total of 60 vines for each treatment. The vines in the smoke treatment were exposed to simulated wildfire smoke generated by burning either a mixture of plants typically found i...
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