April 17: Washington state wine research seminar to focus on smoke exposure

Leading smoke exposure scientist will help wineries prepare for future wildfires

By Washington State Wine

SEATTLE – Wildfires bring devastation to land and property, and in wine growing regions the smoke can affect the quality of the crop.  The impact of this smoke exposure is the focus of the Washington Advancements in Viticulture and Enology (WAVEx) research seminar on April 17, 2019, in Richland, Washington.

Washington State Wine has funded research led by Washington State University’s Dr. Tom Collins, one of the nation’s leading smoke exposure scientists, since 2016. Collins developed a portable smoke hoop house to initiate smoking trials in WSU’s research vineyard so he could control when and the amount of smoke to the grapes. His project has studied the timing of exposure and the role of fuel source in smoke exposure. He is also working to develop analytical methods to accurately predict the potential for smoke exposure in wines and identify winemaking practices to mitigate smoke exposure.

Collins will review the current state of smoke exposure knowledge during the seminar and share the outcome of his first three years of study. The seminar will include tasting wines made from Collins’ smoke exposure timing trials, fuel source and mitigation through reverse osmosis.

The WAVEx seminar at the WSU-Tri-Cities campus is sponsored by Washington State Wine and WSU. WAVEx is a condensed version of the signature WAVE seminar. The purpose of WAVE is to raise awareness of Washington wine grape growers and wineries of industry-supported research, share research outcomes and encourage two-way communication between growers, vintners and scientists.

Pre-registration is required as seating is limited. Register: WAVEx-Smoke Exposure.

Media Contact:

Heather Bradshaw, Communications Director, 206 326-5752, hbradshaw@washingtonwine.org