Wine Industry Smoke Detectors, colloquially known as ‘wizards’, were developed by La Trobe University researchers.
They track smoke events like bushfires and burn-offs around vineyards and advise winegrowers whether it is likely to taint their grapes and if they need to discard their season’s harvest, or use winemaking techniques to remove the taint.
Data taken during trials of the sensor through the 2020 bushfires that devastated wine regions across the east coast found that $100 million to $150 million worth of grapes were needlessly discarded over unfounded concerns they were tainted by smoke.
Professor Ian Porter leads the team that developed the WISDs, and said vineyard trials found smoke did not taint wine grapes as much as viticulturists believed.
“Growers think that all smoke causes smoke taint, but data collected by our team has for the first time globally linked the amount of fresh smoke needed in vineyards to smoke taint in the bottle,” Ian said.
“This sensor has the potential to save a heap of grapes they would usually throw away, which can be financially and emotionally devastating for winegrowers.”
Operating like the networks that monitor air quality for human health, the data loggers calculate risk ratings for smoke taint drawn from a vast database of smoke, grapes and wine data collected during more than 70 controlled burns and eight major bushfires.
This knowledge links smoke dose to smoke composition, phenol levels in grapes and wine and their sensory outcomes in wines. It also incorporates the critical risk factors for smoke taint, including burn conditions, distance from the burn, grapevine variety and the timing of exposure during the season.
The data is used to calculate a risk rating, which is sent to vineyard managers in real time via a mobile phone app and can also be accessed via a dedicated website.
Ian said the WISD was an extremely valuable tool to use during any smoke event to determine whether there is a problem or not.
“Having results in real time greatly reduces stress for growers and winemakers and allows them to market their grapes and produce wine with confidence.”
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