Bushfire Technical Response Program

The Wine Victoria Bushfire Technical Response Program aims to undertake the delivery of a package of technical support activities for Victorian wine industry participants affected by exposure to bushfire smoke during the 2019-20 growing season. While there is a focus on wine regions directly affected by smoke, the program seeks to deliver statewide benefits where possible. The $990,000 program was announced in May 2020 by then Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes. A steering committee made up of the Victorian Government, Wine Victoria and representatives from affected wine regions oversaw the roll-out of the program.

A summary of activities includes:

• Winemaking remediation trials with industry partners
• Sensory tasting panels
• Regional smoke taint sensory workshops
• Winemaking benchmarking test kits
• Establishment of control values
• Linking smoke exposure analysis to the sensory impact in wines
• Cross validation between different analytical labs (Available to download here.)
• Debriefing session with industry (Evaluation)
• Winemaking remediation trials educational workshops
• Emergency Response Plan