California winery blames 'smoke taint' from wildfires in canceling Rogue Valley grape contracts

High levels of these compounds can be disastrous for a winemaker, but low levels can be inconsequential. Rogue Valley vineyard owners disagree with Copper Cane’s conclusions and are now asking how much smoke taint is too much?

Herb Quady, the owner of Quady North Winery and Applegate Vineyard Management in Jacksonville, works with one of Copper Cane’s suppliers and knows many of the others. “We sampled extensively for smoke taint markers and found that results varied, but that in almost all cases the results didn’t pose a concern. People feel blindsided and confused by this cancellation. This is huge and unprecedented.”

John Pratt owns Celestina Vineyard in Medford, and he’s concerned the message Copper Cane is sending will damage the region. “They are implying our 2018 vintage is a disaster, and it’s not. The numbers I saw for our vineyard were insignificant. Unlike last year, this year we didn’t have much smoke low to the ground. It was at higher altitudes and had more impact on our solar radiation than the grapes. It slowed our harvest down because of that, but I prefer to pick later anyway.”

“Besides," Pratt asked, “if the guaiacol levels are so significant, why is A to Z Winery taking in all their Rogue Valley fruit this year?”

Sam Tannahill, a co-founder of Francis Tannahill and A to Z Wineworks in Newberg, has a ready answer. “Our analyses from all over the Rogue Valley showed little pockets of smoke taint popping up here and there, but the numbers were super low, and we thought it could easily be dealt with at the winery. We didn’t see any test results anywhere near the ‘freak out’ level.”

Even if he did find significant smoke taint in the Rogue Valley, Tannahill said he wouldn’t leave the vineyard owners high and dry. “We consider them our partners, not merely our suppliers. We’d figure out some way to make it work for everyone. That’s just the way we do business.”

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