Michigan winemakers have a new climate worry: More wildfire smoke

This is a story about agriculture and climate, not home energy upgrades, but here's the plain-language summary.

Wildfire smoke from fires burning in Canada and Minnesota drifted over northern Michigan's wine country last month, turning the sky a hazy pink over vineyards on the Leelanau and Old Mission peninsulas. Winemakers there worry about "smoke taint," a problem where grapes exposed to smoke for a long stretch pick up unwanted flavors, described as anything from barbecue to burnt bacon, once the wine ferments. Michigan's wine industry is valued at nearly $9 billion.

This time, growers caught a break. The grapes were still in an early, hard, pellet-like stage of growth called "buckshot berry stage," and experts say fruit is most vulnerable to smoke damage later in the season, when the berries change color in the fall. A Michigan State University viticulture professor said he's confident the smoke exposure wasn't long or heavy enough to affect this year's grapes, though there's no way to test for damage until the wine is actually made.

The bigger worry is the trend: as climate change drives hotter, drier summers and more wildfires, smoke exposure is becoming a growing threat to wine regions worldwide, including Bordeaux, France, where fires have burned close to vineyards. Scientists say there's no easy fix for smoke taint, and one Michigan grower put it simply: farming here now means adapting to more unpredictable weather and new hazards, wildfire smoke among them.