We’re glad to see Oregon State University is looking at the economic impacts of what has become seasonally predictable wildfires on the wine industry – this matters in Oregon. And, we’re also lovin’ it that the Oregon Department of Transportation, or ODOT, is looking to offer an interpretative exhibit for the historic Van Buren Bridge – nobody was willing to fund salvaging it for preservation purposes.
Also, well, newspapering for too long a period in one’s life can warp a sense of humor, so, we’ll just offer both the aforementioned subjects as firstly their attendant press releases do, and than secondly with our snarkishly middle school quick takes. We know it’s childish, but hey, at least we haven’t referred to ODOT as ORAfix – we think that’s growth on our part. Oops, apparently we just referred to ODOT as ORAfix while telling you weren’t doing that. Sigh.
Some Consumers Actually Like a Smoky Wine
by Sean Nealon
Certain groups of consumers appear to be open to drinking smoke-impacted wines, a finding in a new study that could provide market opportunities for winemakers increasingly dealing with the effects of wildfire smoke on grapes.
The study by researchers at Oregon State University and in New Zealand found that consumers, particularly those that like smokey flavors in food and beverages, are open to drinking smoke-impacted wines. They also found that the type of information on the label can modulate consumer acceptance.
“This research provides vital information for the wine industry,” said Elizabeth Tomasino, a professor of enology at Oregon State. “It demonstrates that with certain wine drinkers there is a potential market for these smoke-impacted wines.”
As the number and size of wildfires grow globally, the wine industry has been heavily impacted. For example, an economic analysis of the 2020 wildfires on the West Coast of the United States estimated wine industry losses up to $3.7 billion.
Following the 2020 fires, a research team, led by Oregon State scientists, received a $7.65 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study the impact of smoke on wine.
Since then, the researchers have made several key advances. They discovered a class of compounds that contribute to smoke impact in grapes. They also developed spray-on coatings for grapes that have shown promise in preventing off flavors in wines that result from contact with wildfire smoke.
The latest research, published in the journal Food Research International, focuses on consumer attitudes toward smoke-impacted wine, a topic that has received very little attention.
For the study, Tomasino and Jenna Fryer, a doctoral student in her lab, sent smoke-impacted and non-smoke wine made from Oregon pinot noir grapes to New Zealand. There, working with Amanda Dupas de Matos and Joanne Hort at Massey University, they recruited 197 participants for the study.
They conducted the research in New Zealand, a region where winemaking has not been significantly impacted by wildfire, because they were interested in how people would respond to the wines. Future research will compare the results from New Zealand to findings from tasting panels in Oregon and Ohio.
With the research in New Zealand, two clusters of consumers were identified, one that liked the smoke-impacted wine (110 people) and the other that disliked it (87 people).
Findings of the study included:
- The smoke-liking group had an average liking score of 6.86 out of a nine-point scale.
- The smoke-disliking group had an average score of 3.26.
- The introduction of labels, versus unlabeled wine, increased liking of the smoke-impacted wines for the smoke-dislikers from just over three to more than five on the nine-point scale. One of the labels overtly referenced wildfires with the words “Smoke Stack, experience the 2020 vintage with this unique, lightly smokey wine.”
- The different labels didn’t have much of an impact on the smoke-likers, but their average scores were still above six, outpacing the dislikers.
The findings indicate that there are potential tools winemakers can use to make a smoke-impacted wine viable for the market, the researchers say. One option is blending, a common winemaking technique that in this case could involve mixing a smoke-impacted wine with a non-impacted wine. Winemakers can also take different approaches to labeling and marketing to specifically target the smoke-liking group.
“Our findings indicate that there is more forgiveness among consumers for these smokey wines than winemakers think,” Tomasino said. “It seems winemakers have a lot more options if they want to sell wine made with these grapes.”
The Advocate Take
We humans, having taken a set of matches to the planet, can at least always find a way to make lemons into lemonade. Maybe, don’t add the lemonade to the wine, or maybe do – we don’t know. Anyhow, Monty Python comes to mind.
An Exhibit for a Bridge No More
ODOT says they’ve been working on how and where to build an interpretive station for the Van Buren Bridge. The turning mechanism and pony truss saved from the old bridge are waiting patiently in their maintenance yard for a new home – and they want your input before they get to building the exhibit. Soooo, they burned off a press release asking us to ask you, our readers, to share your ideas with them.
You can see photos and graphics for the old bits of bridge that are being preserved on their webpage, and after that… you can use their survey to help shape what the display could look like. The release said they’d love to hear from you, and yep, they used the word ‘love’ in their press release because, well, this is Oregon. Here’s what they’re hoping you’ll weigh-in on:
- The location for the interpretive exhibit.
- How to showcase the bridge’s turning mechanism.
- How to present the timeline and pieces of the pony truss.
You have until March 2 to respond, click here to do that.
Also, if you want to speak with the ODOT folks in person, they’re doing a thing:
February 26 | 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Corvallis Museum | 411 SW 2nd Street
Their release said accommodations will be provided to people with disabilities and material can be provided in alternative formats. You can call 503-302-8653 or statewide relay 7-1-1 at least 48 hours in advance.
The Advocate Listens to NPR…?
America is home to 180,000 historic markers, how could NPR not have done a fun little seven-minute segment on them back in the day, or, well, last year. Does it have anything to do with the Van Buren Bridge… nope. Does it really have to do with the interpretive exhibit ODOT is looking to build… only tangentially. Now, if only we could figure out how we remembered this report from months past, hmm. Click here to give it a listen.
By April Poole, except for the parts that were from the press releases
Do you have a story for The Advocate? Email editor@corvallisadvocate.com