Oregon smoky wine research gets New Zealand tasters

PORTLAND, Ore (KOIN) — Wine researchers from Oregon asked New Zealanders to help answer a flavor question: What do you think of the wine from the grapes affected by the 2020 wildfires?

Oregon State University Professor Elizabeth Tomasino and her team worked with the University of Massey in New Zealand and sent them wine made from Oregon pinot noir grapes — both smoke-impacted grapes and untainted grapes.

“They know pinot noir very well, but they don’t have, say, the experience of having to live through 2020 on the West Coast,” Tomasino told KOIN 6 News. “We do know in sensory science that consumers can be different from experts. So we really wanted to see a group of consumers what their thoughts were.”

Winemakers already do similar work. But she said the perspective from the average consumer was lacking.

So in New Zealand, 197 people took part in the research study, and 110 liked the smoke-impacted wine. But researchers also found that of those who didn’t like it, labels describing a “lightly smoky wine” boosted their approval.

“People do actually enjoy the wine,” Tomasino said. “You don’t have to sort of be like, ‘There was smoke, we can’t do anything with this.’ It’s like, no, particularly at those lower levels, there are people that really do enjoy this product.”

There are more studies planned. Tomasino and her group will look at whether wine consumers have a bias with the smoky wine if they live in an area impacted by wildfires.

They will compare tasting panel results from New Zealand, Oregon and Ohio.