Bushfires are a possibility in any wine region around Australia. Planning before the fire season commences is critical to ensure that you are prepared for the actions that you may need to take to save lives, minimise the impact on your business and recover sooner.
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Wine industry resource and workbook
Case study – Mark Kozned, Nova Vita Wines
Case study – Tim Bartsch, Bartsch Vignerons
Webinar: Bushfire and vineyards – frontline and aftermath management
Wine industry resource and workbook
The South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA) has developed the resource Preparing, responding and recovering from bushfires. A wine industry resource and workbook to assist wine businesses in planning for bushfires.
The resource is broken into three main elements consistent with the South Australian State and Federal Government approaches to emergency management: Prepare, Respond and Recover. It guides businesses through worker and public safety, asset management and insurance, marketing and communications, human resources and operations. An accompanying workbook contains a number of templates, checklists and other key documents relevant to the wine sector.
Access the resource here (via SAWIA).
Case study – Mark Kozned, Nova Vita Wines
Mark Kozned, owner of Nova Vita Wines, had never been in a bushfire before 20 December 2019, when the Cudlee Creek fire caused significant damage to his 31-hectare Kenton Valley vineyard in the Adelaide Hills.
Mark chose to defend his vineyard. In the video and podcast below, Mark has shared his story so that other producers can hear of his experience. Read a summary of the podcast here.
'Just be prepared, and I'm not talking about being prepared the night before. I'm talking about planning at the beginning of the fire season and having things in place and tested.'
Mark Kozned
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| Podcast | click image to listen on SoundCloud | Video | click image to watch on YouTube |
Case study – Tim Bartsch, Bartsch Vignerons
On the morning of 20 December 2019, vigneron Tim Bartsch woke to a hot and howling northerly wind, it was an ominous start to a catastrophic fire danger day. Soon after, Tim's Lenswood Rise Vineyard was in the path of the Cudlee Creek fire that damaged more than 23,000 hectares in the Adelaide Hills.
Tim chose to defend his vineyard. In the video and podcast below, Tim has shared his story so that other producers can hear of his experience. Read a summary of the podcast here.
'Having the resources is one thing, ensuring they are reliable though is another thing. ... The reality is, this sort of gear you don't use every day. When you do push it, it breaks on you.'
Tim Bartsch
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| Podcast | click image to listen on SoundCloud | Video | click image to watch on YouTube |
Webinar: Bushfire and vineyards – frontline and aftermath management
In November 2020, Richard Hamilton and Colin Hinze hosted a webinar for Wine Australia that spoke to several frontline viticulturists who were impacted by the Cudlee Creek fire in 2019.
Thank you to Mark Vella (Vitiworks), Simon Tolley (Simon Tolley Wines), Mark Kozned (Nova Vita Wines), Tom Ayres (In-Field Ag), Tim Bartsch (Bartsch Vignerons) and Matt Button (Casella Family Brands) who shared their experiences and recommendations to provide a reference resource for both vineyard managers affected by bushfires in the future, as well as helping viticulturists developing strategies to minimise risk of bushfire damage in their vineyards.
Other topics in this section
Click on the image below to be taken to these topics in our fire assessment and recovery section.
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| Vine recovery following a fire | Assess and manage smoke impact |