Researchers recently reported promising results after testing a new way of removing volatile compounds responsible for causing unpleasant smoke taint aromas and taste in wine.
While some volatile compounds occur naturally in grapes and contribute to appealing aromas in the glass, those absorbed from wildfire smoke can lead to wines with ‘a disagreeable smoky, ashy or medicinal character that compromises quality and reduces value’, said the researchers.
Wildfires and related smoke drift have caused challenges for winemakers in several vineyard regions around the world, amid evidence that climate change is contributing to more extreme weather events.
Current techniques to remove volatile smoke taint compounds tend to also extract desirable compounds that contribute to a wine’s bouquet, colour and flavour, said researchers in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
They experimented with a novel approach for removing undesirable volatile phenols from wines using molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) – synthetic materials designed to attach to specific target compounds.
The MIP beads were introduced into the wine, either loosely or contained within muslin or mesh bags. The wines were then subjected to chemical evaluations and taste tests by experts, along with students, staff, and the public.
“Despite some effects on other aroma volatiles and the color of red wine, the results indicate that MIPs can improve smoke-affected wine,” the researchers noted in their study.
Additionally, it was discovered that MIPs could be reused after being washed off, and ‘regenerating’ them generally improved the elimination of compounds associated with smoke taint, as reported in a press release about the findings.
The project was partly funded by the Australian government.
Earlier this year, a separate study published in the Nature Ecology & Evolution Journal noted that ‘climate change is exacerbating wildfire conditions’, and presented new analysis showing that extreme wildfires doubled in frequency globally between 2003 and 2023.