By Jed Lanyon
Yarra Valley winemakers are urging local residents to hold off on their bonfires and burn offs for just a couple weeks as they fear an early end to a quiet Fire Danger Period (FDP) could spell disaster for their harvest.
The CFA announced the FDP will end on 22 March, just 42 days after it was brought in. And as locals leap to light their bonfires and clean up their properties, winemakers sweat on losing a bountiful harvest.
After a challenging year for the industry, which saw concerns of smoke taint from the 2020 summer bushfires, cellar doors closed to Covid lockdowns, trade issues with China and low yields, Wine Yarra Valley CEO Caroline Evans has asked locals to wait on their bonfires in a plea for community spirit.
“Everybody loves a bonfire, we look forward to them, but they can potentially damage this year’s crop if lit too soon,” she said.
“We are asking our community to put off their burn offs and bonfires until May as it will really help the local wine industry after a really difficult vintage in 2020. Most of our wineries are owned by local families, and they employ so many of our friends and neighbours in the Yarra Valley.”
Ms Evans explained that in just a couple of weeks of restrictions being lifted last year, 175 fires were registered and lit within the Shire of Yarra Ranges. That figure doesn’t include those that were lit illegally.
Punt Road Wines general manager and winemaker Tim Shand explained the dangers of smoke taint.
“It is a concern, we know from various experiences in 2009 and other years that bushfire smoke is a concern. The Australian Wine Research Institute discovered nearby fuels that are burnt are significant in the taint picked up in grapes. Grapes are actively breathing in that smoke and depositing those compounds within the berries which are then expressed as off flavours in a finished wine.”
Mr Shand also feared for those who would be burning off the wrong kinds of materials.
“If people are burning off dodgy stuff on their piles or noxious vegetative material, those compounds could well end up in the crop with vines still out in the Valley.
Mr Shand said he hoped to see more education around the issue and marketing campaigns stressing the importance of vineyards and wineries to the region and the impacts of burning off can play on their economic viability.
A CFA spokesperson told Star Mail, “Fire Danger Periods are based on local conditions and take into account fuel moistures, fuel loads, grassland curing, weather and rainfall. The decision to introduce and revoke Fire Danger Periods is based on the fire risk to our communities.”
While the CFA and Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) consult with Wine Victoria when it comes to planned burns by the state, the wine industry does not have the same ability when it comes to local residents registering burns on their property.
Ms Evans is hopeful and excited for a successful vintage for 2021.
“The vintage itself is looking amazing, everyone’s thrilled with the quality of what has been picked so far and excited for the wines that will be vintage 2021. We’ve still got a lot of grapes out there and, because it’s been a little bit cooler, it will be about six weeks until we’ve got most of everything in.”
