The wines of East Palestine

When a person thinks of wine country in America, most immediately they envision Napa Valley in California. When a person thinks of wine country in Ohio, most people envision Geneva on the Lake or other wineries near Lake Erie. However, there are many wineries all over the state, including Columbus, Toledo and even Columbiana County in Ohio, which is located almost smack dab in between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

Do not get me wrong, I am not saying when someone mentions wine country in America, I want you to immediately think about Columbiana County, but what I am saying is that they too have wineries. Directly on the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania, much of Columbiana County is farm country, whether it be land for cattle or land for vegetables such as corn, or pumpkins. Farm country is also needed for Vitis vinifera or grapevines.

In fact, recently at one of my local grocery stores (only a couple miles from Columbiana County) I took a gander down the wine aisle and I noticed half a dozen bottles from wineries within a 15-mile radius from me. It was amazing to see. My, how far we have come to have so many bottles in the store from so close in proximity.

However, the next feeling that came over me was one of angst.

image by Jesse McClain

On February 3rd, 2023 a train travelling through East Palestine in Columbiana County caught fire, derailed and eventually released vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate into the air. These chemicals are typically used in plastic manufacturing and the risks to the people and environment are countless. We know that vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen especially when it comes to hepatic angiosarcoma. And though butyl acrylate is classified as ‘group 3’ material, and is not considered to be carcinogenic, it can cause an array of respiratory difficulties. We do not know what effects these chemicals will specifically have on the environment, the land, the vineyards, and the wine. Well, at least not yet.

Pyrazine

Identifying chemicals in wines typically serves multiple purposes. For starters, it helps the wine taster identify what he or she likes in the wine. It helps the person tasting the wine identify the grape or varietal of the wine, sometimes without even seeing the label. If they like certain smells or flavors, they may be more attracted to that style of wine or the wine producer.

Since blind wine tasting became a thing, experts would strive to detect “bell pepper” notes in their wine. The reason for this is simple, methoxypyrazine, a chemical compound found on grape skins, is more prominent in Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. Therefore, when one identifies a “bell pepper” note in the wine, they can narrow it down to these two wines. And, with one being a red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) and the other being a white wine (Sauvignon Blanc) this would makes the ability to identify the wine, much easier. The point of this story is that chemicals are found in our earth, grapes, and wine every day. The vast majority is benign and there for our enjoyment.

Smoke Taint

Given the frequency of wildfires in many of the world’s wine country, “smoke taint” has become a worldwide studied issue. The smell of smoke is known as volatile phenols and because they evaporate into the air relatively easily, people can detect the smell miles away. Unfortunately, even if not detected in the grape or the vine, yeasts (which is needed for fermentation) tend to break down the volatile phenol which regenerates that smoke smell in the finished product. In other words, grapes that smelled and tasted perfectly fine off the vine, may, after fermentation, have the smokiest of aromas and taste. Even worse, if barrel aging takes place, the barrels may be left with the same, overpowering smoky smell or taste which is not ideal on occasions where reuse of the aging barrel was planned. Some barrels can go for thousands of dollars and wineries cannot afford to replace them year after year.

Researchers in Australia and California have also identified certain biomarkers in wine years after wildfires took a toll on their land. This would lend the reason many smells or tastes smoke in their wines a year or so after wildfires effect certain regions.

Radioactive Isoptopes

For decades, testing for isotopes has been widely utilized in wine fraud cases. Unfortunately, 5% of fine wines being sold today are fake and one method in determining wine fraud are nuclear isotopes from Nagasaki, Hiroshima and even Chernobyl. Some of these isotopes can be detected as far as Bordeaux years after toxins were released into the air on the other side of the world.

In our atmosphere, we have normal, stable carbon dioxide. Typically known as carbon-12. However, in decades past, countries would test atmospheric atomic bombs which would release carbon-14 into our atmosphere. Though this practice is not continued and has not been present for decades, small traces of carbon-14 (which is radioactive) can still be found in the soil and in our grapes/wine.

If that is too far in the past for you, how about the Japanese radioactive fallout in Fukushima that occurred in 2011? What soil/vineyards was evidence found in? Well, you may have never guessed it, but remnants of this disaster can be found in the vineyards in California. Yes, California on the other end of the Pacific Ocean.

The radioactive isotope Caesium-137 was detected in the wines of California after the Fukushima disaster and this isotope can only be produced through a nuclear reaction.

Vinyl Chloride

So, now what is going to happen from the release of Vinyl Chloride?

I do not know.

Nobody knows.

Though not a nuclear disaster, we have little knowledge as to the impact of vinyl chloride or butyl acrylate has on our vineyards or within our wine. We also do not know these chemicals’ reach, yet. The smoke can be visualized miles away – the picture, from a variety of social media accounts, demonstrates the impact of smoke from space.

image shared by multiple sources on social media

We do not know how far the smoke and/or chemicals were spread. We do not know the impact this event will have and may not know for years to come.

What we do know, however, is that radioactive isotopes found in California were faint and testing demonstrated it posed no risk to humans. The same can be said for “smoke taint.” Though unpleasant to many, “smoke taint” can ruin a wine, but evidence suggests that it is of no health risk to humans. Now, that all being said, it is still amazing the reach events such as Fukushima, wildfires and possibly East Palestine can be felt.

All I can say is pray for East Palestine.