CANBERRA, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Australia's bushfire crisis has cost the wine industry tens of millions of U.S. dollars, according to a peak body.
Australian Grape and Wine Incorporated (AWGI) estimated that burnt vineyards and smoke taint have cost the industry 40 million Australian dollars (26.3 million U.S. dollars).
However, the New South Wales (NSW) Wine Industry Association projects that the cost is closer to 100 million Australian dollars (65.8 million U.S. dollars) that state alone when accounting for the downturn in wine tourism.
Only 1 percent of Australia's vineyards were burnt in the "black summer" fires but a larger area has been affected by smoke that blanketed much of the east coast, causing some wineries to write off their entire vintage for the year.
In the Hunter Valley region of NSW, up to 90 percent of the harvest for 2020 will be scrapped.
In South Australia, where a fire in the Adelaide Hills affected 30 percent of vineyards, winemakers are making small batches to determine if their product has been tainted by smoke.
"It certainly isn't looking good for some growers who were in or close to the fireground," said Kerry Treuel, the chief executive officer of the Adelaide Hills Wine Association, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday.
"People don't risk it at all with grapes and they're not going to put their name on something that isn't good.
"There will be less of them, they will be hard to get, but what is made will be very good."
Australia's wine exports were worth 2.78 billion Australian dollars (1.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the 12 months to March 2019.
