smoke taint

Smoke from wildfires can alter grapes and affect the taste and sensory experience of wine, threatening California’s $88 billion industry as it faces an increase in fires on the horizon. 

Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and U.S. Department of Agriculture spent this summer applying a calcium spray to grapes to see if the treatment can protect the fruit from smoke exposure.

UC Davis is part of a team of western land grant universities sharing a $7.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the effect of wildfire smoke on grapes and wine.

Oregon State University is leading the 4-year project to better understand how wildfire smoke compromises grapes, which poses a threat to the $20 billion wine industry in the United States.