Smoke taint test to help reduce bushfire losses for wine growers

Research collaboration develops tools and techniques to detect low levels of smoke exposure in grapes

A chemical screening process that can detect smoke damage in wine grapes could help reduce crop losses for vineyards affected by Australia’s bushfires, according to the country’s leading wine research institute.

The process uses metabolomics, a technique that allows scientists to study all chemical compounds in a wine rather than focusing on a smaller group of phenols that have been linked to smoke taint.