‘Like Licking an Ashtray’: Fires’ Invisible Threat to Australia’s Wines
HUNTER VALLEY, Australia — The hills are lush and green, the grapes plump and ripe. But one bite of this famed valley’s most prized product reveals a winemaker’s worst nightmare. “It’s like licking an ashtray,” said Iain Riggs, a vintner here. “It’s really rank and bitter.” The bush fires that raged for eight months in…