Wine producers warn future crops are at risk of smoke taint from hazard reduction burns MarMarch 2021 at 8:00pm Tom Ward has had a bumper crop this year after losing it to smoke taint in 2020. ( Share Print text only Cancel A year after many New South Wales winegrowers lost their crops to smoke taint, they are now warning hazard reduction burns, which should protect them, could pose a new threat. Key points: Researchers say there's little to no value in smoke-affected grapes Smoke taint cost the wine industry about $40 million after the 2019-20 bushfires The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) called the just-ended bushfire danger period the "quietest fire season in a decade".