This summer the Cuyama Valley was devastated by two major wildfires. In July the Madre Fire started on the west end of the Valley on the northside of Highway 166. While it was the largest wildfire of the summer at that time, firefighters and favorable winds were able to guide it over grasslands into wilderness areas to the north. It was stopped on Soda Lake Road in the Carrizo Plain National Monument with minimal damage done to structures. Then on August 1 the Gifford Fire began, also on the western end, but starting on the more inhabited southside of 166. Firefighters were able to stop it just one mile to the west of Condor’s Hope. We are so fortunate to still have our vineyard to walk in and a place to gather people together. Not all of our neighbors were so lucky. And while much of the natural habitat was burned, we will closely observe its regeneration.
During both fires there were days we were blanketed in smoke. It literally descended into our canyon including the vineyard. Our concern for smoke taint, when smoke gets into the fruit and destroys the taste of the wine, was high. We proceeded with our community harvests as usual with three vibrant harvests. Our winemaker Colin McNany now tends the fruit through fermentation and barrelling, watching for any sense of damage to the fruit. We asked Colin to discuss ‘smoke taint’ with us.
Hi Colin. It feels like we’ve been worrying and talking about smoke taint for a long time now, but it’s only been a few months. Can you briefly explain what smoke taint is and how it affects the grapes on the vine?
CM: The duration and density of the smoke can penetrate through the skins into the juice of the berry.
Have you experienced smoke taint in vineyards before? What is it like?
CM: During the 2020 fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the pinot noir was smoke tainted. As soon as it started to ferment it smelled like an ashtray. We looked to Australia on the issue of smoke taint because they had more research on it. Microferments became popular to see if smoke taint was present. This is crushing the grapes in a 5 gallon bucket and letting them ferment to see if there is any sign of smoke taint.
Is there anything that can be done to protect a vineyard?
CM: Not really. Maybe dry farming! (wink)
How have you been looking for signs of smoke taint in Condor’s Hope grapes this year?
CM: We initially sent the Shiraz and Zinfandel to a lab to test for primary smoke taint chemicals. Then we did microferments on the Shiraz, Zinfandel and Pedro Ximénez.
What have you found?
CM: The microferments and labs were clean.
Does this mean we are in the clear? And if not, when will we know for sure?
CM: We are 80% in the clear. We will know for sure once the wine stabilizes in the barrel in a few months.
It seems like we’ve been very lucky so far. Any hypotheses as to why?
CM: Dry farming could be the reason because the skins are thicker and possibly the smoke can’t penetrate the fruit. Also with head pruning, the canopy hides the fruit in the foliage and might protect it. In the winery we made strategic decisions including destemming the fruit, inoculating the red grapes with a yeast so they fermented faster and we could get the wine off the skins faster. The Pedro Ximénez juice was pressed away from its skins before it fermented.
Between the tending of the vines and your fastidious care with the developing wine, there is so much love in this wine. Thank you for all the attention you give it.