Five minutes ago I tasted my first Fume Rouge. Even if I knew the actual identity of the wine itself – which I don’t – I wouldn’t let on what it was, but the point is that the bushfires that so badly affected the northeast of Victoria prior to vintage this year have had a very real effect on the flavours of some wines. At this stage nobody knows how many wines are affected or to what overall extent, but I can report that the rumoured presence of smoky tastes in some wines this year is actually true. In the example I tasted the nose was lightly burned and not entirely offensive, but the palate tasted like the bottom of an ashtray. Nobody has yet come up with a guaranteed means to remove these tastes from affected wines, but some high-grade brains are working on the problem. Meantime, there’s no reason whatsoever to imagine that every 2003 vintage wine from northeast Victoria has been affected by the smoky taste from the bushfires. But I would advise you to try before you buy.
