145: New Class of Compounds Linked to Smoke Taint in Wines

<p>As researchers were creating a training procedure to identify smoke tainted wines, they made a breakthrough discovery that links a class of sulfur-containing compounds called thiophenols to the undesirable ashy flavors found in impacted grapes. Elizabeth Tomasino, Associate Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology at Oregon State University explains that early research believed that the culprit for smoke taint was phenols with an alcohol group. But just adding volatile phenols to untainted wines did not produce the undesirable BBQ flavors. Research is still young but this discovery could help researchers come up with more effective mitigation strategies.</p> <h2>References:</h2> <p><a href="https://www.vineyardteam.org/podcast/?id=959">143: Can Barrier Sprays Protect Against Smoke Taint in Wine?</a> (Podcast)</p> <p><a href= "https://www.awri.com.au/industry_support/winemaking_resources/smoke-taint/"> Australian Wine Research Institute Smoke Taint webpage</a></p> <p><a href= "https://owri.oregonstate.edu/users/elizabeth-tomasino">Elizabeth Tomasino</a></p> <p><a href= "https://industry.oregonwine.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020-Grape-Smoke-Exposure-Best-Practices.pdf"> Grower-Winery Contracts and Communications about Smoke Exposure to Oregon’s 2020 Wine Grape Harvest</a></p> <p><a href= "https://www.awri.com.au/wp-content/uploads/smoke_effect_in_grapes_and_wine.pdf"> Key Information on Smoke Effect in Grapes and Wine: What can be done to identify and reduce smoke effect in grape and wine production? (Western Australia Agriculture Authority)</a></p> <p><a href= "https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/oregon-state-researchers-discover-compounds-contributing-smoke-taint-wine-and-grapes"> “Oregon State researchers discover compounds contributing to smoke taint in wine and grapes”</a> (Press release)</p> <p><a href= "https://www.sipcertified.org/get-certified/self-assessment/">SIP Certified</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.sustainableagexpo.org/">Sustainable Ag Expo November 14-16, 2022</a> | Use code PO