August 14 – our forest fire season began in the Oliver Osoyoos area – and all that smoke had a few people worried about “smoke taint” which in the past has caused problems in Australia and California during the harvest season.

The smoke can penetrate the skin of the grape and leave a residual taste.

The news is out – testing shows this is not a problem for local grape growers or vintners.

“So far all the reports coming in support the ‘no smoky’ statement. There are a few vineyards where the fire came right down on to their place that have small areas that are tainted but so far quite encouraging. We should look forward to some wonderful late season reds – cab franc, syrah and cabernet sauvignon.”

John Bremmer, Industry consultant

“We were a bit worried about the possibility of smoke taint in fruit this year because of the smoke from the Washington fires. There’s fairly limited BC industry experience with this issue on the whole, as we really only have the 2003 fires to look back on. To be on the safe side, many wineries from our area, including Stoneboat, have sent grapes to labs for analysis to detect whether any of the compounds that cause ashy/smoky flavours and aromas are present. From our results, and in chatting with other winemakers, we’re in the clear as far as smoke taint is concerned and can expect some pretty fantastic wines from this vintage.”

Tim Martiniuk, Stone Boat Winery and spokesperson for Osoyoos-Oliver Winery Association