A new smoke sensor could save hundreds of millions of dollars in lost wine production, researchers say.

A La Trobe University team’s Wine Industry Smoke Detector is being rolled out to producers to track smoke from bushfires and planned burn-offs. 

Australian agtech Goanna Ag will commercialise the sensors over the next two years and expand them to wine regions across the country. 

The tool tells wine growers if nearby smoke is likely to taint their grapes and if they need to discard their season’s harvest. 

The university says up to $150 million of grapes were needlessly discarded over unfounded concerns of tainting during the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires. 

Professor Ian Porter says sensor trials found smoke does not taint wine grapes as much as viticulturists believed, meaning vineyards can avoid significant losses. 

In most cases, wine growers need not be concerned that smoke from planned controlled burns might taint their crop, he says. 

“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,” Professor Porter 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 wine growers.” 

Smoke, grape and wine data has been collected by La Trobe from more than 70 controlled burns and eight major bushfires.  

It links smoke dose to smoke composition, phenol levels in grapes and wine, and sensory outcomes in wine. 

It also incorporates burn conditions, distance from the burn, vine variety and the timing of exposure during the season. 

The data is transmitted to a server that produces a traffic light risk rating, which is communicated to vineyard managers in real time via a mobile phone app. 

“We are particularly excited to be involved in the commercialisation,” Goanna Ag wine grape business development lead Jock Ferguson said. “[It is] a vital industry breakthrough with appeal to stakeholders throughout the grape and wine sector in Australia, as well as wine-growing regions around the world.” 

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority has previously ruled loss of quality or grade of grapes due to smoke taint was an insured event under some policies.