Allison Badar, Ignacio Arias-Perez, and Anita Oberholster*
*UC Davis, 595 Hilgard Ln, Davis, CA, 95616
(aoberholster@ucdavis.edu)

Smoke impact from wildfire events is a major problem in winegrowing regions around the world, and has been particularly damaging in recent years in premium winegrowing regions. Volatile phenols (VPs) released from burning wood have been associate with affecting the aroma and taste of wines, resulting in smoke and ashy characters. This study expands on prior research done in the Oberholster lab evaluating VP amelioration in wine. One of the more promising VP amelioration methods was molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP), which are synthetic polymers made with target molecules and used to pointedly remove compounds from affected wine. Adsorption tests are performed using MIPs, analyzing 11 VPs (guaiacol, creosol, o-cresol, phenol, 4-ethylguaiacol, p-cresol, m-cresol, 2,3-dimethoxyphenol, 4-ethylphenol, syringol, and 4-methylsyringol) at high concentration using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to determine optimal contact time for its removal by MIP in a model wine solution. The study examines the efficacy of using MIP to remove VPs in both a batch and a continuous flow processing setting. In addition, the study evaluates how real smoke-impacted wines respond to treatment with MIP in comparison to the determined models. In previous tests, MIP removed up to 80% of free VP content in smoke-impacted wine in a model setting. The results of this study will offer new insights into an effective amelioration treatment for smoke-impacted wines, which could be a great advantage for the industry as wildfires and smoke impact become more common.

Funding Support: Constellation Brands, LLC and USDA-ARS