Smoke taint has been the sole cause of significant damage to many Australian wines in vintages like 2003, 2007 and 2009, especially in Victoria. One of the main issues with smoke taint is that it is not only extremely difficult to detect in very young wine, but a large percentage of winemakers are still unable to identify its presence in their own wines. This leads to the commercial release of many wines that might have a residual measure of smoke-taint in their youth, but which after time become extremely seriously affected since the phenomenon does become significantly more noticeable and damaging with bottle-age. Smoke taint has the potential to cost the wine industry hundreds of millions of dollars in a given season. In response, the Victorian Government has committed $4 million for the establishment of a Centre of Expertise on smoke taint. According to Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh, this centre will explore means to reduce the impact of smoke taint on wine, commencing with a comprehensive research and development program to help increase the understanding of how smoke affects wine composition. The research will identify smoke taint compounds and their mode of entry into grapevines and fruit, as well as identifying the impact of smoke from different fuel types. It is hoped that the centre will devise protective and preventative strategies to manage and reduce smoke taint, which will include a strategic approach for windows to control burning, based on the sensitivity of different grape varieties and grapevine development stages.
