Southern French winegrowers work on rescue plan to protect wines from smoke taint

n August 13, Nicolas Dutour, a consultant engineer and winemaker with Dubernet laboratories near Narbonne in the South of France, began analysing humidity levels identified by the Sentinel satellite when it last crossed the Corbières. His aim was to begin to drill down on zoning following the massive forest fire that destroyed 16,000 hectares of land, devastating 1,500 hectares of vines at the beginning of August. By mapping the different areas, winegrowers will be able to identify the blocks that need to be analysed for smoke taint.

Once the inventory has been completed, the recommended strategy is to group together contaminated grapes by level of risk and vinify them based on a number of protocols outlined in a fact sheet jointly drafted by Dubernet, the French Vine and Wine Institute (IFV) and the Rosé Wine Centre in Provence. The fact sheet reminds winemakers who recommend not fermenting grapes containing glycosylated precursors for red wines or advise shortening macerations as much as possible, that “no one has ever heard Chilean or Californian wines being described as bad in vintages marked by major forest fires”. The fact sheet recommends extracting enough substance during vatting time and “bodybuilding the wines” to prepare them for processing using reverse osmosis coupled with adsorption using activated charcoal.

“The technique works, unlike washing grapes, enzymatic processes or using yeast hulls”, stresses Dutour. Provided the grapes have been properly identified, fermented and treated, he promises that “no wine will be left by the wayside after the fires. All the mid-range wines will be suitable for bottling as per usual”.