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For the past six years, the West Coast Smoke Exposure Task Force’s (WCSETF) Smoke Summit has served as a platform for sharing updates, recent findings and future initiatives on the impacts of wildfire smoke on the wine industry.

More than 350 people from 19 U.S. states and nine countries participated in the July 15 summit, hearing from leading researchers, experts and industry representatives from California, Oregon and Washington.

“The impacts of wildfire smoke have left a lasting mark on our industry,” said Natalie Collins, California Association of Winegrape Growers president and WCSETF co-chair. “As we continue to navigate these challenges, our annual Smoke Summit has been a critical space for collaboration and progress. Together we are advancing our understanding of smoke exposure and charting a path forward with science, innovation and shared resolve.”

Federal Funding
Dr. Tim Rinehart, a national program leader with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), spoke about federally funded efforts for smoke exposure research that started in 2020. His portfolio focuses on specialty crops with about $27 million for grape research annually. That funding is appropriated by Congress. He said $5 million of that $27 million is dedicated to the topic of smoke exposure in winegrapes.

“I try to make sure the research dollars are spent wisely and that we have a coordinated national strategy,” Rinehart said.

The research has been a collaborative affair with more than 25 scientists participating in some form. He said he’s proud of what’s been accomplished over the past five years.

“We have some fantastic people who have been working on [smoke exposure]. It’s a great example of a research community that’s coming together for a common goal.”

Rinehart also cited language in the fiscal 2026 appropriations bill. “There is potentially more funding for wildfire smoke exposure, which is truly unexpected,” he said. “This gives us the opportunity in this transition year of fiscal 2025 to really look forward to focusing on the future research goals and how we can work together to create some impact.”

Rinehart also mentioned a new “roadmap” for smoke exposure research that will be used moving forward. The roadmap was created by Dr. Arran Rumbaugh following a November 2024 industry workshop with the intent to chart current research, identify gaps and outline next steps.

“This is a dynamic document,” Rinehart said. “It’s a very flexible strategy to meet the real-time needs of the growers.” The roadmap is posted on the WCSETF website.

USDA-ARS Research
Rumbaugh, a research chemist with USDA-ARS, was hired three years ago to focus her research program on wildfire smoke impacts on vineyards.

During her presentation, she explained her program’s four areas of research: early portable detection, establishing thresholds, atmospheric analysis and metabolic studies. “The more data we can collect, the better the models can be,” she said.

Rumbaugh mentioned that the November 2024 industry workshop and roadmap have been helpful for understanding “where we are and where we need to go” for USDA-ARS and university research.

Additional USDA-ARS research highlighted by Rumbaugh included:

• Dr. Roger Thilmony (Albany, Calif.): Biotechnology tools to better understand genes involved in the response to smoke exposure in grapevines.
• Dr. Yixiang Xu (Albany, Calif.): Spray coatings for the prevention of smoke taint in grapes by wildfires.
• Dr. Walt Mahaffee (Corvallis, Ore.): Atmospheric modeling to help with risk assessment during smoke events.
• Dr. Anita Oberholster lab (Davis, Calif.): Rapid assessment of smoke taint risk in grapes and wine, barrier sprays, threshold impact of smoke taint in wine (odor) and impact of storing smoke-impacted wine in oak barrels.

USDA-ARS food technologist Dr. Torey Arvik shared his research plan and progress report focused on developing practical means to mitigate smoke impact during winemaking. Through various technologies his research is exploring the effectiveness of commercially available tools, the impacts of multiple treatment rates on smoky wines and how quality impacts relate to economic values based on sensory data.

Oregon State University’s Dr. Elizabeth Tomasino presented about interpreting grape and small fermentation smoke data from samples and how that data can be helpful to make decisions about wine.

The research looks mainly at three categories: no smoke impact, significant smoke taint (ashy flavor characteristic) and smoke taint or smoky wine. “Depending on which zone you’re in, you would potentially make some adjustments,” she said. “Not all smoke is problematic. But at this moment we still recommend chemical testing as the best way to know if your grapes or wine have an issue.”

Tomasino strongly recommended some form of small-scale fermentations before harvest so the wine is analyzed. She said to review contracts and insurance to see if grape samples are needed. It could be helpful to put a cluster in the freezer. It’s also important to know baselines and thresholds for your wines.

“From a taste standpoint, know what your thresholds are for the wine style you’re looking for,” Tomasino said. “Take really good notes and add dates. Each year you do this you’ll start to have more information that you can use to help your specific vineyard or wine.”

Washington State University’s Dr. Tom Collins shared research exploring the role wildfire proximity plays in the level and likelihood of smoke impact on grapes and wine.

“Fires near vineyards are more likely to cause a negative impact on quality than fires that are further away,” he said. “The reason is that smoke ‘ages’ as it is carried from the fire to the vineyard. The longer it’s carried, the more time there is for things like atmospheric reactions that degrade these compounds.”

He said vineyard proximity to the fire really does matter. “There are often gradients as you move from the close edge of a vineyard to the fire to the far edge,” Collins said. “Even in that short of a distance there can be some decrease in the extent of the impact.”

Collins referred summit attendees to the WCSETF website best practices page which features information about grape sampling, microfermentation (bucket) and nanoscale fermentation (Mason jars).

Insurance
Kristine Fox with Relation Insurance provided information about the benefits of multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI) and fire insurance.

Referencing the MPCI smoke claims checklist, she emphasized the importance of pulling samples from the vineyard before harvest and clearly identifying variety and location.

With MPCI smoke claims, documentation is critical, Fox said. “Keep records of all marketing attempts, any rejections you’ve received, any lab testing and even a freezer of berries. Anything that the insurance carrier would need to prove that you had smoke in your vineyard.”
The Fire Insurance Protection Smoke Index (FIP-SI) Endorsement, new in California in 2025, established separate coverage that only covers smoke events. The endorsement is stacked on the underlying MPCI policy. FIP-SI is a county loss triggered coverage.

“Heavy smoke in any area of the county triggers a smoke event for the entire county,” Fox said.

She said FIP-SI was successful in California in the past year with 86 endorsements. It is expected to expand to Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

To watch the two-hour Smoke Summit (with presenter slides), visit wcsetf.org/events/recordings/.   

WCSETF is a coalition of industry leaders committed to providing timely communications, resources and best practices to help winegrape growers and vintners navigate the challenges of wildfire smoke. Its website offers a centralized hub of information from WCSETF, universities, government agencies and industry groups, including FAQs, best practices, labs, contracts, crop insurance, wildfire preparedness, informational videos, university resources, research, a subscription newsletter and Smoke Summit recordings.