3 Firms Offer TTB-Approved Technology to Remove Wildfire Smoke Taint from Wines

Technology developed by USDA researchers in Davis, Calif., to target and remove smoke compounds from impacted wine is now available on a commercial scale from three firms, VA Filtration (Napa, Calif.), Cellar Dweller (Wenatchee, Wash.), and Winesecrets (Sonoma, Calif.)

The wildfire smoke removal application using molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was first proven through a collaboration between a US wine producer and amaea Ltd., a company that pioneered a new format for the filter technology. 

Wildfire smoke damages wine grape quality and costs the U.S. wine industry hundreds of millions of dollars per wildfire event. Volatile phenols carried in the smoke are absorbed by grapes and can be released by typical wine fermentation processes. 

Wildfire smoke MIPs are made of a polymer backbone that is "cast" around a target smoke molecule. The target is washed out leaving the backbone polymer with binding points specific to that target molecule. MIPs are rechargeable with an ethanol rinse, so they can be reused thousands of times. 

The wildfire smoke removal application using molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was first proven through a collaboration between a US wine producer and Amaea Ltd., a company that pioneered a new format for the filter technology, Torey Arvik, Research Food Technologist at the Crops Pathology & Genetics Research Unit in Davis, Calif., told KANE'S BEVERAGE NEWS DAILY in a email.

USDA stakeholders requested ARS researchers open applied research in this specific area as part of our national research program. The USDA researchers are actively comparing MIP treatment with other approved commercial wildfire smoke remediation tools.