The Heat is on in Australia as Fire Engulfs Vineyard

Jan 6, 2015

(Wine-Searcher) - A changing climate could mean a change of plan for Australian grapegrowers as bush fire season begins.

As bush fires threaten vineyards near Adelaide, and Hunter Valley wineries spray their grapes with sunscreen, the Australian wine industry is getting used to life at the sharp end of a changing climate.

The current bush fire raging in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia has been described by firefighters as the worst since 1983 and it has destroyed half of one of Kersbrook Hill's vineyards, with flames coming within 20 meters (65 feet) of the winery itself, managing director Paul Clark told the ABC.

The chief executive of Adelaide Hills Wine Region, Robin Shaw, said that was the worst-hit winery so far.

"We're a bit nervous over here, to be honest, but she'll be right," she told Wine Searcher.

"Kersbrook Hill was the only one to sustain major damage; they lost some vineyard and also a shed full of equipment, but there was no damage to the winery or cellar door. Other wineries are in the firing line; we've had the first sustained heatwave of the year and it's very, very dry out there."

Shaw, whose home was evacuated on Saturday night, said the main focus of the fire service was 12,500 hectares (31,000 acres) of bush and scrubland in the hills.

"In the great scheme of things, we've only had 25ha of vineyard affected, according to what people have been telling me, although they haven’t been able to get back in to assess the damage yet."

She said the vineyards had acted as effective firebreaks and the fire service was busy with back-burning operations to prevent the spread of the blaze.

"Apart from that, the vineyards are looking really good. It's pre-veraison, so there hasn't been much damage to the vines. It looks like being an early vintage and everyone is pretty upbeat about it. We've had no issues with mildew or insects; if we could only get rid of the fire we'd be looking pretty good," she said.

The fire has destroyed 38 homes and 125 other buildings, but local fire chief Greg Nettleton said he was more confident of containing the fire, despite the searing heat that is expected to return later in the week.

Last year was the third hottest year on record in Australia and scientists say that climate change is already impacting on all aspects of Australian business, from agriculture through to shopping patterns.

Heatwaves are becoming more frequent, prolonged and severe and Professor Christopher Wright from University of Sydney's Business School said industries had to heatproof their operations.

"They [businesses] are thinking about how they can insure for extreme events like bush fires that are precipitated by heatwaves, so they have to model for an increasingly unpredictable climate," Wright told the BBC.

"Heatwaves are becoming longer and they are becoming more severe, and that becomes hard to manage, depending on which business sector you are in."

The heat has caused some growers in the Hunter Valley to spray sunscreen on their grapes to protect them in a region where temperatures can reach 45°C (113°F).

November was Australia's hottest month on record, with the highest temperature of 46.1°C (115°F) recorded in South Australia. Rainfall was 34 percent below average, continuing a run of hot dry years that have seen heatwaves starting earlier and lasting longer.


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