(Wines&Vines) - The first grapes of the 2016 vintage were harvested in Washington state last week, six weeks after the first signs of véraison began appearing on Red Mountain and elsewhere. 

But between first blush and crush, dry weather made for a frantic wildfire season in wine country, with flames from several fires drawing near to vineyards throughout the summer. 

The massive Range 12 fire near Yakima, Wash., for example, scorched close to 180,000 acres after starting July 30. The fire came within 10 feet of a block of Riesling at DuBrul Vineyard, a 45-acre property near Sunnyside. 

“The fire came up to the northern edge of the Riesling,” Kerry Shiels, winemaker at Côte Bonneville, told Wines & Vines. “We haven’t had any smoke issues in the past, however, I did work in Napa in 2008, so I have experience with smoke taint.” Shiels wanted to know if the fire—and more specifically its smoke—was going to impact her grapes, and having heard Washington State University assistant professor Tom Collins speak at the Washington Advancements in Viticulture and Enology symposium in Richland on July 14, she gave him a call. 

“Most of the time when you have smoke impacts in the grapes, as a winemaker you find out about it after harvest,” she said. “If you’re going to make any modifications in your program—or you’re going to do anything to minimize the impact—it’s nice to know about it beforehand.” 

Collins had just kicked off a trial smoking of Riesling grapes at WSU’s research vineyard near Prosser when the Range 12 fire erupted.