A Napa Winery Is Turning Smoke-Tainted Grapes into Brandy

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And when life gives you smoke-damaged grapes, make brandy.For winemakers, this year's blazes proved troublesome because they exposed many grapes to smoke taint.Their fruit, and then the wine that follows, often takes on unwanted smoky characteristics.But a spirit from Napa Valley's Hoopes Vineyard may offer a new solution: purposefully smoke-tainted brandy.After the 2017 Napa fires, Lindsay Hoopes teamed up with distiller Marianne Barnes to distill smoke-tainted wine into brandy.The brandy itself is still in the aging process, but the results will be available directly from the winery.As with every industry, we have to find ways to evolve. We are reliant on Mother Nature, so as the climate changes, we have to innovate with sustainable practices and offer a new product that embraces these changes, Lindsay Hoopes,Winery Proprietor