Michigan winemakers have a new climate worry: More wildfire smoke
Winemakers are considering smoke testing and research as climate change increases wildfire risks and smoke taint threatens a $9 billion industry.
- When wildfire smoke blanketed northern Michigan in July, Kasey Wierzba, general manager of Shady Lane Cellars, realized the potential threat to the state's nearly $9 billion wine industry after visibility turned minimal.
- Smoke taint, which creates 'unwanted flavors,' is a growing risk as wildfires increase in frequency and intensity globally, growers like Brian Hosmer of Chateau Chantal note.
- Fires in Ontario and Minnesota have destroyed more than 64,000 acres, though Paolo Sabbatini, a viticulture professor at Michigan State University, remains 'pretty confident' that current smoke levels didn't damage grapes.
- Producers are now considering lab tests to detect smoke compounds if future events occur, as vineyard manager Andy Fles of Shady Lane Cellars calls the current climate reality 'climate chaos.'
- Despite increased state and federal support for research into wine grapes, Ben Montpetit, chair of the department of viticulture and enology at the University of California, Davis, notes that smoke taint will remain a problem.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Michigan winemakers have a new climate worry: More wildfire smoke - The Mexico Ledger
Michigan winemakers have a new climate worry: More wildfire smokeWhen wildfire smoke blanketed northern Michigan skies in July, Kasey Wierzba thought the vineyard at Shady Lane Cellars in Suttons Bay looked like a different planet.“That kind of pinky, peachy haze really was filtering through the whole vineyard. The visibility was really minimal,” said Wierzba, the general manager and executive winemaker at Shady Lane Cellars, a winery and vineya…
Michigan winemakers have a new climate worry: More wildfire smoke - Seward Independent
Michigan winemakers have a new climate worry: More wildfire smokeWhen wildfire smoke blanketed northern Michigan skies in July, Kasey Wierzba thought the vineyard at Shady Lane Cellars in Suttons Bay looked like a different planet.“That kind of pinky, peachy haze really was filtering through the whole vineyard. The visibility was really minimal,” said Wierzba, the general manager and executive winemaker at Shady Lane Cellars, a winery and vineya…
Michigan winemakers have a new climate worry: More wildfire smoke - Stateline Publications
Michigan winemakers have a new climate worry: More wildfire smokeWhen wildfire smoke blanketed northern Michigan skies in July, Kasey Wierzba thought the vineyard at Shady Lane Cellars in Suttons Bay looked like a different planet.“That kind of pinky, peachy haze really was filtering through the whole vineyard. The visibility was really minimal,” said Wierzba, the general manager and executive winemaker at Shady Lane Cellars, a winery and vineya…
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