"Wet Ashtray" Grapes Abandoned After Smoke Spoilage From Fires; Willamette, Sonoma, Napa Hard-Hit
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Jason Hanson expects his crews may only harvest five tons of grapes, including his Chardonnay and Gamay varieties, down from the 25 to 30 tons his fields yielded last year. The birds can have the rest, he said, as the fruit has likely absorbed too much smoke to be salvaged and would produce wine that tastes like a “wet ashtray.” “With the dense smoke that we’ve had at the ground level for so long now, almost everything has to be affected or damaged,” Hanson said. “I have a yearly fight with the birds. This year I’ll just let them win.”
The historic wildfires across the western United States, home to the bulk of the country’s vineyards and major producers of crops from apples to zucchini, have ravaged farmers and ranchers already hard hit by the Trump administration’s trade wars and demand disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic.
Atmospheric smoke has obscured grape-ripening sunlight while ash has coated green beans, cauliflower and other produce in nearby fields just days before scheduled harvesting. Poor air quality is slowing harvesting as farms limit fieldwork hours and some run low on particle-filtering masks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For wineries, the wildfires have only deepened recent wounds. A drop in restaurant traffic and smaller crowds visiting vineyards for tastings had already been sapping key sources of revenue. Many tasting rooms remain shuttered due to fire and smoke risks, while grapes awaiting harvest in storied wine regions like Willamette Valley or California’s Napa and Sonoma Valleys may be damaged or ruined entirely.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wildfires-wine/wet-ashtray-wine-grapes-left-to-birds-as-fires-choke-west-coast-vineyards-idUSKCN26D1A0
