Wildfires are taking a toll on the West Coast right into the end of the summer, with water shortages a top concern for local leisure and hospitality businesses.
But according to Tom Danowski, Oregon Wine Board President, there’s an “oversupply” of wine across the nation — even with demand for alcoholic beverages on the rise.
“Look at your shelf and your store, you’ll see quite a bit more wine than you might have ever thought could ever [have] been produced,” he told Yahoo Finance LIVE. He added that wine producers have been able to keep prices relatively level, thanks to creative approaches learned after the wildfires in 2020 and government assistance.
Danowski explained that, to prevent the spread of fires, winemakers began take a defensive posture. That included building defensible space around their structures, clearing debris from rooftops, planting fire-resistant flora around their properties, and using livestock to clear any flammable brush.
All of which came at a “relatively low cost” to farmers and are already “baked in” to vineyards’ cost profile, Danowski said, while admitting that “some good government assistance” also helped minimize some of the risks of these fires.
“We did get a really important positive and encouraging response from the federal government when the three west coast states and the scientists that support our industries applied jointly for some scientific money,” he said.
As of August 27th, 2021, FEMA put forth a total of $4.1 million dollars in Fire Prevention and Safety spending across the nation. In 2020, the city of Portland received $238,095 thousand for fire prevention and safety. Whereas in 2019, Oregon Health & Science University received $1,426,096 million dollars for research and development.
One way in which scientists are using the grant money is to research fire smoke compounds in vineyards and in wine cellars, which may leave a lingering smoke presence.
“Extensive testing” is being completed at both the time of harvest in what a winemaker “might think of as a bench-top or a desktop, small batch fermentation,” Danowski explained. And within just five days, winemakers can ferment the grapes, and get some quick analytics on the wines.
The fire smoke can be found in phenolic compounds, and can have a huge variety of influences on wine grapes, but depends on how long the smoke has been exposed, how long it’s been at ground level and the fuel source for the fire.
And Thanks to the quick analysis, winemakers are able to be more selectively about which block they can harvest and press grapes “more…
Read More: Wine makers sees ‘oversupply’ as industry brave wildfires, water shortage