'I'm just trying to keep my cool': Horror start to 2019 vintage for West Gippsland wineries
It has been a horror start to the 2019 vintage for wineries in West Gippsland, where a bushfire raged for weeks.
Winemakers are grappling with the fallout from the Bunyip State Park bushfire in early March that caused significant smoke damage to wineries at its foothills.
Andrew Clarke is still trying to rebuild after the bushfire razed his Tonimbuk property and destroyed his vineyards that he says he first planted in 1979.
“It’s a bit early for me to know what I’m going to do,” Mr Clarke said. “[But I’ll] possibly stick to making beer and a bit of wine.”
Others, including Brandy Creek Estate, Gypsy Creek Winery and William Downie Wines, are attempting to salvage what they can.
Gypsy Creek Winery spokesman Hari Shotem said 80 per cent of his harvest had been smoke-tainted.
“I’m just trying to keep my cool,” Mr Shotem said.
“The fire is nobody’s fault and in one way I’m thinking the fire didn’t affect us like Jinks Creek … but when you’re in this industry there must be some kind of assistance."
Mr Shotem said not many people knew about the vineyards at the foothills of the Bunyip State Park and his team had been working with Baw Baw Shire Council to promote the region as a tourism destination.
“When something like this happens, it affects jobs and it affects businesses.”
When something like this happens, it affects jobs and it affects businesses.
Gypsy Creek Winery spokesman Hari Shotem
When vineyards and grapes are exposed to smoke, the wine can taste "smoky, burnt, ashy or medicinal", according to The Australian Wine Research Institute.
The grapes absorb the volatile phenols, a chemical compound produced when wood is burnt, and bind to the grape sugars.
During fermentation, and over time in a barrel or bottle, the sugars can break apart and release the volatile phenols into the must, resulting in a "smoky" wine.
The Australian Wine Research Institute outlines a number of techniques to reduce the smoke-taint flavour but says "they are unlikely to eliminate the problem completely".
Bill Downie, from William Downie Wines, about 30 kilometres from the Bunyip State Park, said he was initially gutted because most of his harvest had been smoke-tainted.
But after trialling a new technique, based on anecdote rather than evidence, he is feeling slightly more relaxed.
"Someone suggested ... that if you can wash the fruit you can reduce the impact of smoke taint," Mr Downie said.
"I don't know for certain just how effective it is and I don't want to get people's hopes up too much. We won't know for a month or so, but I'm feeling quite confident," he said.
Most of the smoke damage has been in West Gippsland, where wine production isn't as prevalent as the rest of the Gippsland region.
But The Australian Wine Research Institute's Mark Krstic said volatile phenols can move quickly through the grape skin into the fruit, and any washing was generally "superficial".
He said growers should start thinking about "spreading the risk" and planting vines that could be harvested at different times of the year.
"There's very little producers can do to be honest," Mr Krstic said. "Smoke and fires are part of the landscape in Australia."