Could smoke from the Point Fire damage grapes and wines?

The Point Fire, Sonoma County's first wildfire of the season, broke out Sunday afternoon northwest of Healdsburg, threatening the heart of Sonoma County's famed Dry Creek Valley wine region.

The fire, which quickly grew to more than 1,000 acres, prompted evacuation orders that affected several of the dozens of vineyards that dot the rural landscape south of Lake Sonoma, including Quivira Vineyards on West Dry Creek Rd.

On Monday, Quivira Vineyards winemaker Hugh Chappelle focused on what he can control amid the crisis.

“We want to make sure our people are safe, and then our wines and our vineyard are safe,” he said. “But people first, of course.”

Chappelle was also busy gathering information to assess whether smoke in the area could cause damage to the grapes on the vineyard, while the harvest was still months away.

“Even though I have a background in chemistry, I cannot answer this question with a high degree of confidence,” he said. “Most of the grapes have finished flowering and are hard and pea-shaped. I just don't know how likely they are to be smoke contaminated at this point.

Grapes could be impacted

Smoke odor can occur when grapes absorb volatile phenols in smoke, imparting undesirable aromas and flavors to the wine. Some wine experts use the term “wet ash” to describe the smell of smoke.

The Point Fire broke out early in the fire and grape season. There is little research on the impacts of smoke on grapes, however tiny they may be, currently and before veraison, the start of grape ripening.

“It’s never great, but right now it’s not too concerning,” said Lauren Fremont, executive director of Dry Creek Valley Vintners.

Jeremy Kreck, co-owner of Mill Creek Winery, which has operated in the Dry Creek Valley for more than 50 years, said the same thing.

“The development effects and the final product will be exactly the same,” he said.

But Anita Oberholster, an enologist and researcher at UC Davis at the forefront of smoke odor science, said that based on anecdotal observations in Australia, grapes could be affected by smoke even at this stage. early in the growing season.

“I think more (smoke) will be needed because the berries are harder and have a smaller surface area,” she said, noting that, so far, there are no quantitative studies that can help predict the impact of this particular fire on the grapes at this stage of the combustion. development.

Just east of Quivira Vineyards, on Dry Creek Road, winemaker and executive winemaker Ben Papapietro of Papapietro-Perry Winery said “smoke and burning ashes” were blowing through Timber Crest Farms, a collective where he farms its cellar and tasting room.

Papapietro sent his tasting room staff home around 1 p.m. Sunday. The winery is just east of the evacuation zone and the winemaker is closely monitoring the fire. He's not worried about the smoke smell at this point, though, because it's so early in the wine season, he said.

Limited damage to the vines

On Monday, limited damage was reported in some vineyards along the downward slope of the mountainside west of West Dry Creek Road in the Yoakim Bridge Road area, according to Lauren Fremont of Dry Creek Valley Vintners.

The organization is still trying to assess the extent of the damage to the vines, she said, but no tasting rooms, caves or vineyard structures are known to be affected, and no workers or owners have been injured.

“In the context of the 10,000 acres of vineyards we own, it's pretty small,” Fremont said, adding that they will likely have a better idea of ​​how much acreage is affected and how much value is lost in the coming days.

The Dry Creek Valley wine region, made up of 70 wineries and 150 winemakers, “produces 3.2 million cases of wine annually, with a retail value of $1 billion,” according to a 2023 winemakers report of Dry Creek Valley.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Marisa Endicott contributed to this story.

You can contact wine writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @pegmelnik.