Speaking at the royal commission into Natural Disaster Arrangements following the extreme bushfires this past season, former fire chiefs have indicated that with climate change, the prospect of bigger and more fierce bushfires across the nation is not just possible but extremely likely.
The consequence of damage is enormous and in the case of wine, it doesn’t need to be in the path of the fires to devastate the crop. Wine grapes at the point of ripening are particularly prone to ruin if the smoke from the fire envelops the vineyard.
Growers in the Goulburn Valley have been able to breathe a sigh of relief that while the smoke on some days was very dense, it was not at the point in time that it affected the crop.
Crops closer to the fires however were substantially damaged with many growers having left the grapes on the vines or dumped the crop once the taint had been established.
As vintner, Paul Phillips from Phillips Cellars said, “The smoke in these areas around King Valley and Rutherglen was for a long time and at the wrong time but those within fifty kilometres of Shepparton were not affected.”
Into the future however, the risk factor for vineyards being affected by fire and smoke will become greater as the elements of climate change create the conditions for longer and more intense natural disaster.
The good news is that smoke taint is only applicable to that one season and unless successive crops are subject to smoke, will have no carry over effect.
