Bordeaux wine harvest will not have a 'smoky' taste after summer wildfires, winemakers say

Tests carried out on grapes to be harvested for wine in France's famous Bordeaux region show that the new vintage will not have a smoky taste as feared. This after massive fires swept through the southwest destroying thousands of hectares of forest near the vineyards over the summer.

Wine, particularly Grand Crus from France's Bordeaux region is an important export product. Experts have tested the grapes to see if their taste might be affected by this summer's wildfires. AP - Eric Risberg

"At this stage, the first analytical results are reassuring," Vincent Renouf, general manager of the Excell laboratory, said during a press conference organised by the Union of Oenologists of France (UOF) on Tuesday.

He was referring to the some 400 tests carried out to check for the presence of molecules that can give a "smoky taste" to wine produced in the Gironde area of southwest France.

Concerns have been raised about the possible impact on the new harvest after 28,000 hectares of forest were destroyed by two major fires, in La Teste-de Buch (7,000 hectares) and in Landiras (13,800 ha then 7,400 ha).

This last  area in the South-Gironde, is close to the Bordeaux appellations of Graves, Pessac-Léognan, Sauternes, Barsac and Loupiac.

Of known compounds that contribute to the "smoky taste" in wine, "we remain at levels below the theoretical perception thresholds", he added.

He explained that the fires had struck "very early" before the harvest, unlike the fires in California in 2020 or in Provence in 2021.

Climate change

The grapes did not yet have a lot of sugar and have not been able to "glycolize" or integrate the molecules that are emitted by burning wood.

The "smoky taste" is characterized by a "bitterness", and a "pungency" on the palate, but is odorless, the experts said.

It is generally noted at the time of fermentation.

"In the (Bordeaux) vineyard, there is no concern",  said Dominique Guignard, boss of the Graves union and winegrower in Mazères, near Landiras.

"In 1949, there was a monster fire near Graves and the vintage had been exceptional. This year, we are going to have a great vintage!"

But for the national president of the UOF Didier Fages, this problem is "likely to surface for other fruit harvests".

According to Vincent Bouazza at Dubernet laboratories, "all the compounds responsible for the taste of smoke have not yet been identified to date".

The wine industry, like other agricultural sectors in France is struggling to deal with the intensifying climate crisis as weather patterns becoming increasingly erratic and unpredictable, no longer following the rhythm of the seasons.

Unseasonal frost again wreaked havoc on vineyards this year, a scenario that affected fruit trees and other crops.

This was followed by heatwaves, drought conditions and wildfires in the summer months, a pattern scientists predict will occur more frequently.

• Frost that devastated French vineyards linked to climate change
• Can French wine survive the climate change fiasco?