Toxic smoke from bushfires that swept over the wine regions in the nation’s south-east has obliterated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of grapes and brought parts of the industry to a grinding halt.
Australia’s bushfire season has been one of the worst in history destroying more than 13 million hectares of land in New South Wales and the ACT, including 19 vineyards in the Tumbarumba region in the state’s south.
One-third of the vineyards in Adelaide Hills in South Australia were also destroyed, affecting 60 winemakers and growers.
Before and After: Eighty-five per cent of the crop at Courabyra Wines was declared unusable
Cathy and Brian Gairn from Courabyra Wines in south-west NSW lost 15 per cent of their grapes when blazes tore through the region in mid-January.
Eighty-five per cent of their crop was declared unusable after prolonged exposure to smoke.
Cathy Gairn planted the Courabyra Wines vineyard with her husband Brian in 1992
‘We lost 100 per cent of our remaining crop to smoke. ‘We won’t be able to make wine this year,’ Ms Gairn told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The crop we lost was worth $200,000, but then there will probably be a $30,000 loss the following year on wine production.
‘The direct financial impact after that is hard to calculate – it’ll take about five years before the loss really hits us.’
Ms Gairn couldn’t say whether the financial impact would be enough to force the 28-year-old vineyard to close, but she remains hopeful.
‘When you realise the devastation caused by the fires in all the wine regions, you’re in shock.
‘There’s ongoing support and the army were called in to help the clean-up efforts, but we won’t know the true impact for a few years.’
‘There’s ongoing support and the army were called in to help the clean-up efforts, but we won’t know the true impact for a few years,’ Cathy said
While the existing wines in the cellars at Obsession Wines in the Tumbarumba region were saved, the company will not be able to harvest for five years.
‘Bushfires have devastated the Tumbarumba wine region. Our property has been severely impacted,’ they wrote on their website.
‘Our vineyards are destroyed and will require replanting. Expect no harvest for five years. No 2020 vintage. We also have no 2019 vintage due to hailstorm damage in January 2019.’
‘Most of our vineyard equipment has been destroyed in the fires.’
On Friday 20th December the Cudlee Creek bushfire swept through our property destroying 21 years of at Tillbrook Estate in Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Tilbrook Estate Wines was also lost to fires.
‘We have lost our livelihood, we have no wine or grapes so we have no income,’ their website read.
They have set up a fundraiser page to save the vineyard.
Tim Kirk from Clonakilla Wines in Canberra told the ABC the effects of the smoke have been devastating.
‘We’ve had bushfires before, but this was something else. The fires all around us, we just seemed to cop all of smoke and it hung around for weeks and weeks.
‘What happens is it sits on the skins of the grapes and gets sucked into the grapes as they start to ripen. Once you crush the grapes and begin to ferment them, those smoke compounds are released into the wine.’
The Tilbrook Estate website said: ‘We have lost our livelihood, we have no wine or grapes so we have no income’
Mr Kirk said more than 100 tonnes of grapes on his property will go to waste.
On Saturday, the company said they would not be making wines this year.
Executive officer of the NSW Wine Industry Association Angus Barnes said that while fires only burnt a very small percentage of vineyards in the state, a significant portion was destroyed by smoke damage.
‘Growers have had their grapes tested and by the Australian Wine Research Institute and they’re coming back with high levels of smoke compounds within the grapes.
‘Winemakers have to use that information to decide what they want to do with their grapes, but a basic red made with smoke-affected grapes tastes like it has been filtered through an ashtray.’
Vineyards in the Hunter Region, Port Macquarie, Mudgee, Orange, Cowra and the Shoalhaven area were heavily impacted by smoke.
Vineyards in the Hunter Region, Port Macquarie, Mudgee, Orange, Cowra and the Shoalhaven area were heavily impacted by smoke. Pictured: the destroyed vineyards at Courabyra Wines
Mr Barnes said winemakers will have to source grapes from the Riverina in the New South Wales south-west, but that the survival of the growers is a concern.
‘They’re going to miss out on at least 12 months of sales.
‘Hopefully they can overcome that and next year there’s a fruitful season.’
NSW makes one-third of Australia’s wine.
On January 6, Canberra’s air quality was the worst of any major city in the world after winds carried in smoke from bushfires in NSW.
Australia’s bushfire season has been one of the worst in history, killing 27 people, more than a billion animals and destroying more than 2,100 homes.
Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra were blanketed with thick smoke for months since the bushfire season began in October last year.