Is that some smokey-ness I’m tasting?
Wine growers are in disarray after Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) began planned burning this week, causing smoke to fall on grapes due to be harvested in the coming week.
Exposure to the smoke may taint the flavour and quality of future wine.
The vineyard owners told FFMV their concerns, but feel ignored by the organisation. FFMV has maintained the window for back burning continues to narrow due to climate change.
“With climate change, we have to take the opportunities to burn when the burn window opens,” chief fire officer Chris Hardman said. “If we miss it … we may never get it again.” he continued.
Unfortunately, the window falls at the peak of harvesting season. For vineyard owners, they have spent months planning for this moment, and made requests that the burning wait a few more weeks.
A spokesperson for Bendigo Winegrowers Association, Cliff Stubbs, insisted they were not against the burns, but stressed “We’ve spent a whole year growing these grapes to get to this stage and we’ve said, ‘Can you just give us a couple of weeks, we’ll have all the grapes off.”
According to Stubbs, these requests were ignored.
“If there’s any smoke that sits in the atmosphere, it’s soaked up by the grapes, and you don’t really know you’ve got it until you’ve made the wine.” he continued.
For wine growers, smoke taint is the latest in an already difficult industry. Low grape cost, restricted water supply and difficulty selling product has left many farmers struggling.
Will your Shiraz and Pinot Noir survive the smoke-taint? Only time will tell.
