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Oregon Wineries Come Together To Save Grapes Rejected For Smoke Taint
Grape growers in southern Oregon thought they had already weathered one of the biggest challenges of the 2018 season — the Klondike Fire, which burned over 175,000 acres in July.
But on Sept. 22, they faced even more devastating news: Copper Cane Wines and Provisions, a Calif.-based winery that contracts with numerous growers in the region, canceled grape orders mere days before harvest was supposed to start, citing smoke taint.
"We were shocked," says grower Leon Pyle. "We knew that we had a lot of smoke, but it wasn't worse than the previous year, and the previous year's wine turned out just fine."
[...] Currently, research focuses on guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol — chemical compounds produced by fires — when assessing taint, but there are no set standards to determine what constitutes acceptable levels.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Friday March 08 2019, @10:22PM
Mostly. It can be about money too, though. Rich people have been known to invest in very pricey bottles of liquor too, hoping (speculating) that they'll get a decent return. That's basically the only reason you get wines or spirits than cost $10,000/bottle or whatever. It is like the art world sometimes.
But for the $100/bottle or a few hundred/bottle stuff... yeah, it's mostly about being pretentious.