Published 11:00 am Wednesday, January 31, 2024
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Scientists are developing a spray-on coating for grapes that could prevent wildfire smoke from tainting wines with ashy flavors.
Researchers at Oregon State University expect to have the product available in the next several years.
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“Wildfire smoke is an increasing problem for wineries in the United States and around the world right now. Vineyard managers really have no tools to manage the effects of the smoke,” said Elizabeth Tomasino, an associate professor of enology at OSU.
“This coating has the potential to transform the wine industry,” she added.
The spray-on coating would be applied every year as a preventive measure while grapes are on the vine. It doesn’t affect grape growth, ripening and quality, Tomasino said.
“It’s a flexible coating so it grows as the grapes grow. … If there’s not a wildfire event, it won’t damage your grapes,” she added.
Growers may find it difficult to apply the coating at the onset of a major fire. Researchers believe it could be applied when other sprays are used.
“The timing of application is still something we are investigating,” Tomasino said.
According to researcher Yanyun Zhao, an OSU distinguished professor, because the coating could block rather than absorb smoke compounds, it wouldn’t need to be washed off before winemaking.
“Not having to wash it off saves time, money and water for grape growers. That is what we are aiming for,” added Zhao, an expert in food coatings.
Zhao has been doing research on edible coatings for many years and holds several patents. Coatings have been used to extend the shelf life of many postharvest fruits as well as to reduce cracking in cherries caused by rain, Tomasino said.
Prom
The research was prompted by wildfire smoke that shrouded much of the western U.S. and British Columbia in September 2020 and significantly impacted wine grape quality.
The fires that year coincided with the grape harvest. Many vineyard managers decided the potential impact of wildfire smoke on their crop wasn’t worth the cost to harvest.
The fires resulted in more than $3 billion in losses for the wine industry.
Wildfire frequency and the size of fires are increasing, Tomasino said.
“This problem is not going to go away. I can’t predict if we will have another year like 2020 but the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies have shown clear trends of increasing wildfire risk,” she added.
Several wine regions have experienced wildfire smoke exposure to some degree since 2017 fires, Tomasino said.
Funding for the project came from part of a $7.65 million USDA grant for grape smoke exposure, as well as a $167,000 Oregon Department of Agriculture grant. About 10 scientists are working on the study, which started in 2021.
The team has conducted two years of application research at OSU’s Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center in Central Point, Ore.
The coatings also were applied at OSU’s Woodhall Vineyard outside Monroe, Ore., where smoke chambers were placed over vines to test the smoke-blocking ability of the coatings. Wine from those grapes is being analyzed.
