Australian Winemakers Fear "Ashtray Vintage" - Whole Crops Tainted By Smoke From Huge Bushfires
SYDNEY, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Wildfires sweeping through southeast Australia are carrying with them the spectre of a silent killer for grapes growing in the nearby Adelaide Hills wine region.
The vineyards have so far escaped the direct ravages of the worst bushfires for 30 years but winemakers fear their grapes may have fallen victim to "smoke taint", which results in wines that taste like an ashtray and can ruin an entire vintage.
As fears grow that climate change is lengthening the time and severity of Australia's bushfire season, government funding to find a solution to the phenomenon is drying up. "It's a nightmare of a problem," said Mark Krstic, a specialist in smoke taint at the Australian Wine Research Institute who is liaising with worried growers in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia state. "Smoke taint is one of the symptoms of climate change for the wine industry and it's only getting worse."
Smoke taint first caught the industry's attention when Victoria state's severe bushfires in 2003 cost grape growers more than A$7.5 million ($6.05 million) in lost vintages. Since then, it has recurred in vintages around the country in four other years.
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