Winetech Technical Yearbook 2022

ting for consumers, but it seemed that there was an unexpected emotional as pect involved. The devastation caused by the 2019/20 fire season, and its massive impact on the industry, had led to some ‘philanthropic support’ amongst consum ers. The combination of drought and fire on the Australian wine industry had made consumers realise they needed to help or see a lot of small producers go under. So, they bought the wine, and they drank it. One winery owner in Allen’s article not ed that there is far too much of a fuss made about smoke taint, and that it “isn’t as much of an issue for wine consumers as winemakers think it is”. Customers saw the smoky character as a feature of the wine, not a fault, and were happy to try something different. Allen suggests that this may be an indication that the market is maturing, and able to have ‘nuanced discussion’ instead of simply writing the entire vintage off. In Oregon, hit by devastating fires in 2020, opinions amongst consumers also seemed to shift. As many as 70% of Or egon producers make fewer than 5 000 cases of wine a year, 3 so these small op erations cannot afford to spend a whole year without production. Thus, despite the pall of smoke over winemaking areas, producers went ahead and made wine. Various strategies were employed (min imal pressing, wood treatment and rosé production instead of red), but the author notes that consumers are not so quick to call all smokiness in wine ‘taint’. Predicting very negative consumer reac tions to smokiness in some vintages may not actually be accurate. Much more re search is needed on consumer acceptance and rejection thresholds for smoke taint compounds. Certainly, Australian cus tomers appear to be thinking about smoke in wine differently now to how they once did. Perhaps it’s time for South Africans to follow suit? SO WHAT? The effect of vintage and terroir on a wine is not something anyone argues about. We all know it exists, and often, it overrides everything else (very frustrating if you are a viticultural researcher). Vintage effect embraces a whole range of factors from microclimate, flora, fauna, vineyard management and even the vineyard microbiome. Like S. Cole-Johnson, 3 and some of the Oregon and Australian winemakers, I too think of smoke as a part of the vintage and the Western Cape (in our case) terroir. What you are tasting

in your glass is an event that happened in a particular place at a specific time. Obviously not everyone will feel the same about a wine with hints of smoke, and it will be up to the individual winemaker or winemaking team what is done with a smoke-affected vintage based on their knowledge of their customers and their cultivars. EUCALYPTOL AND VOLATILE PHENOLS Coming back to the issue of a chemical and sensory flavour profile as an expression of terroir. D. Capone 4 and co-workers in Australia identified a few of the chemi cal markers in Cabernet Sauvignon that highlighted the role of various factors in defining regional typicity. Not all these markers are internal responses of grape metabolism to the environment, some are external, like eucalyptol and the volatile phenols. I loved the olfactory experience I had with the Jacob’s Creek wine, and appar ently, I am not alone. The presence of eucalyptol isn’t off-putting to consumers. Capone 4 also showed that Australian con sumers actually preferred wines that had been spiked with low levels of eucalyptol compared to clean controls. It has been suggested that tasters from other coun tries are more likely to pick up the green notes in Australian wine, as the locals have become de-sensitised to it, and thus Australian winemakers are divided over whether it’s desirable. I’m going to side with those who say that it is. Obviously, an overwhelming eucalyptus attribute, which dominates the wine to the detriment of everything else would be unacceptable, but a subtle eucalyptus, minty note that is there as a direct result of grapes being grown in the Australian landscape does not seem to pose a big problem for the average consumer. REVISITING SMOKINESS Likewise with volatile phenols and smoki ness. A greater understanding of the chem istry behind terroir expression (including adverse events of any kind impacting the landscape) will provide producers with knowledge that can be used for promot ing their wines and enhancing sales. A greater understanding of how and why consumers make choices, and what their acceptance and rejection thresholds are for smoke taint-related compounds like RETURNING TO THE COONAWARRA CAB

volatile phenols will also help winemakers to make decisions around production and amelioration strategies. FINAL THOUGHTS A decade and a half had passed since those grapes had ripened in an Australian vineyard, and I was transported back to that time and place by the evocative aroma of gum trees. This is, of course, the magic of wine. Not only is it a time capsule, but it is also a place capsule. What other product can claim that so effectively? The sunshine, the wind and even the people who worked the land and the wine are somehow trapped in the bottle. A little greenness does nothing to dissuade the average international consumer from loving an Australian Cab. Why then are we so determined to deny the fact of our landscape, our terroir? Why should we Western-Capers not trap a little carefully curated fynbos- smoke in the bottle occasionally, to transport others back to a different time and place? It is, after all, our history trapped in a bottle. ABSTRACT Discussing the exogenous or external fac tors that form part of world-famous wine terroir in Part 1, this opinion piece lays out the rationale for well-managed volatile phenols derived from inevitable wildfire events to form a part of our own Western Cape terroir expression. Part 2 shares some insights into consumer reactions to smoke events around the world, demon strating that wine lovers are not always predictable in their reactions, and quality is in the mind (and on the palate) of the beholder. REFERENCES https://www.wineland.co.za/smokin hot-western-cape-terroir-part-2/

For more information, contact Marianne McKay at marianne@sun.ac.za.

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WINETECH TECHNICAL YEARBOOK 2022