Wine Focus: August - ever drink with fire?

[David M. Bueker]

Wildfire is sadly all the rage. France, Spain, California - fires are raging near population centers and vineyards. Given the accelerated growing season many areas are approaching or already into harvest, and grapes exposed to wildfire smoke can become tainted. I wish there was something we could personally do about it right now, but elections aren’t for a few more months.

This isn’t the first time this issue has come up, especially for California. Bad fires in 2008 caused a lot of issues, and tainted wines made it to the marketplace largely because some producers didn’t yet fully understand the issues. Beyond the bad wines it created a lot of skepticism about wines in later “fire years.” Some consumers swore off 2017 in all of California, despite the issue being largely Northern California and mostly later harvested red grapes.

So do you keep an eye on vineyard area wildfires? Do you swear off regions that have experienced fire in a vintage, or carefully evaluate potential purchases then maybe buy? Have you ever had a smoke tainted wine? Was it something you bought only to later find out it was compromised?

Sorry I don’t have any marshmallows.

[Robin Garr]

2026 Bordeaux, anyone?

[David M. Bueker]

Your Substack post inspired this.

2026 Bordeaux, anyone?

I guess a lot of people will instinctively shy away from 2026 Bordeaux but many parts of the region, e.g. Médoc from Pauillac northwards, could be relatively free of smoke risk. Pessac is closest to the fires and I hope that the big names like Haut-Brion, La Mission and Pape-Clément will abstain from offering a Grand Vin if the grapes are tainted. However, wines like that are not in my budget and I will follow the advice of "experts", like those in RVF, about those which I can afford.

Heat and drought stress is another and more ubiquitous issue.

[Jenise]

Though there's a concerning fire in Sonoma right now, fire season in California has been relatively mild in 2026 with just over 200,000 acres burned where Washington and Oregon have already experienced over two million. There are 11 and 30 active fires respectively as I type, three of which are complex fires over 300,000 acres each. Have vineyards been affected? Yes, some.

And yes I've tasted many smoke-tainted wines, and yes I've avoided fire years unless I tasted the wine first. It has, unfortunately, become a neccessity.

I have never knowingly tasted a smoke tainted wine but I am sure that it is becoming a much more frequent issue here in France and elsewhere in Europe. Last year there were bad wildfires in the Corbières wine area of Languedoc but I haven't had one of those yet. This year, as well as the Gironde, there is a serious fire in the Var département which may affect some Provence wines. I don't think the Madrid region's fires are near any important vineyard but there are also several major but less reported fires in Sicily, hopefully not too close to Etna! There have been frequent wildfires in Greece in recent years but we hardly ever see their wines here.

The Okanagan region in BC is hit every few years with wildfires and smoke. 2021 was a really bad year.

[David M. Bueker]

I remember our first visit to the Okanagan was in 2002. In 2003 it burned, including one of the w8neries we visited, St. Hubertus.

One way that winemakers can deal with smoke-tainted red grapes is to make rosé from them (something that Navarro did with the '08 Pinot Noir harvest). Far from ideal situation, to be sure, but better than throwing them out altogether. And, to add a sardonic coda, we'll all be drinking more rosé as the planet continues to heat.

[Jenise]

I remember our first visit to the Okanagan was in 2002. In 2003 it burned, including one of the w8neries we visited, St. Hubertus.

My first visit to the OK was probably 2005, and coincidentally we visited St. Hubertus too. They told us about the fire, and I remember tasting a mindblowing cab franc ice wine. That was the only time I've been over on the Kelowna side, all other visits have concentrated on Naramata Bench to Oliver.

There is a good chance the Okanagan will have smoke issues this year, but of course it’s too early to tell. High levels of smoke right now…

[Jenise]

John, full evac order for all of Summerland was issued overnight. I'm heartbroken.

[Jenise]

This was posted by Bella Wines in Keremeos BC this morning:

2͏0͏h͏
·
This my fifth smoked out harvest. For context that is 5/12 career vintages with ash falling.
Almost half. Actually half.
I’m late to the wine game, I think.
Unknowingly enthusiastic about a venture
that was over before it started.
The event horizon being crossed long ago - how could we have known?
Easily, and we did.
We did know.
I feel like a tree.
My feet so deeply rooted in time and place.
Despite my numerous limbs and strength I lack the ability to uproot myself.
I guess I wait.
Wait for somebody to come cut me down (finally)
Wait for the inferno to erase me as I stand my ground
Wait to fall from the sky, in pieces.
The first vintage after 4 years rebuilding from the freeze and it looks like this.
I can just laugh. Crying wastes moisture.
I wish I could tell the vineyards that I tried.

[David M. Bueker]

Absolutely heartbreaking

Yes, with the 2023 and 2024 freezes, including almost 100% loss of fruit in 2024, a smoke year in 2021, and what seems to be another smoke year this year, it has been brutal for BC wineries lately.

[Jenise]

From an article by Washington wine writer, and my friend, Sean Sullivan:

THE SUMMERLAND FIRE THRU ONE WINERY'S EYES

On Friday, August 7th, Ron Kubek, owner and CEO of Lightning Rock Winery in Summerland, British Columbia went out to dinner with his family at 6:30 p.m. At that point, the Bald Range Fire was just over 120 acres. By the time they finished dinner at 8 p.m., Kubek says it was nearly 2,500 acres. By 9:30 p.m., it was over 12,000 acres.

“We started preparing go bags just in case,” Kubek says. “We started figuring out what we were going to do with staff and with some of our foreign workers.” The winery’s interns left at approximately 10 p.m. The winemaker’s partner and their young children also evacuated.

About 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, Kubek heard emergency sirens.

“I didn’t even know Summerland had permanent sirens,” Kubek says. “It blew me away.” Kubek also received an alert on his phone to evacuate.

The Kubeks live on the Lightning Rock property. Kubek and his wife, Tracy, packed up their cars, and then he started watering the property down with a large firehose.

“Then the power goes out, and I’m like, ‘Okay, God, I got the hint,’” Kubek says.

By this point, traffic from Summerland to Penticton was bumper-to-bumper. Instead, the Kubeks took a forest service road, leaving in two separate cars.

“There was a sense of calm,” Kubek says. “It was like, okay, my staff is safe. My family’s safe.” The couple drove to their condominium several hours away.


Ron and Tracy Kubek, Lightning Rock Winery

Sunday morning, the Kubeks learned that the Lightning Rock buildings and their home appear to have been spared. Since evacuating, Kubek has talked with his staff, insurance agents, local officials, and news media. He has spent time cancelling reservations, tours, events, and bottling.

The Lightning Rock tasting room is currently shut down for an unknown period. This halts sales during what is typically the busiest time of the year.

“We’ve sent emails off to our agents saying ‘Sell like crazy!’” Kubek says.

Lightning Rock had already been impacted by freeze events that limited their crop in 2023 and 2024. The winery replanted some vines two years ago. It’s unclear if those vines will survive. It seems certain that Lightning Rock will not be able to harvest fruit from its vineyard in 2026.

“We survived ‘23. ’24 we’re trying to survive. ’26 is going to be hard to survive because we’ve got no fruit,” Kubek says.

[David M. Bueker]

So terribly sad.