Understanding and mitigating the impact of smoke exposure on grape and wine composition and wine sensory properties

Smoke from bushfires and controlled burns can contaminate wine grapes and lead to undesirable ‘smoky’ aromas and flavours in the resulting wines. This project aims to determine how much the concentration of smoke-derived compounds (phenols and phenolic glycosides) in grapes influences the intensity of smoke characters in wine, and assess the impact of early-season and later smoke exposure. Strategies for reducing smoke taint in wine will be evaluated. Major fire events since 2003 have resulted in industry losses of more than $1B as a result of smoke taint in Australia, and the frequency of days with very high and extreme Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) are predicted to increase 15-70% by 2050 under various climate change scenarios.