Victoria Wildfires Devastate Wineries: What’s Next and How to Help

Australia’s Victoria wine country is hurting. A series of fast-moving bushfires ripped through vineyards, homes, and critical storage facilities, scorching more than 300 acres of vines and destroying an estimated quarter-million bottles of museum stock. According to Wine Victoria’s Dan Sims, at least 25 wineries have been directly affected. It’s a gut punch to regions known for cool-climate finesse and hard-won hospitality.

Region snapshot: Where and who was hit

The Strathbogie Ranges took a direct hit. Fowles Wine’s Matt Fowles battled the Longwood blaze to save his winery and home before the fire returned. His account is raw and wrenching: “This was by far the worst I’ve seen,” Fowles told Wine-Searcher. Nearby, Elgo Estate says its Upton Hill vineyard was “devastated,” and owner Grant Taresch has signaled he’ll wind down operations rather than attempt a rebuild.

Another front, the Ravenswood South fire, tore through the town of Harcourt and destroyed a major cool store. Sims estimates some 250,000 bottles are gone—much of it irreplaceable library stock—from Bendigo and Macedon Ranges producers including Joshua Cooper, Blackjack Wines, Killiecrankie, and Sutton Grange. As Sims told Wine-Searcher, “Buy direct, if you can.” That’s the north star right now.

For context, Victoria isn’t a monolith; it’s a mosaic. Think Yarra Valley’s Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges’ high-altitude elegance, Heathcote and Bendigo’s savory Shiraz, and the Strathbogies’ granite-etched brightness. When library wines disappear, it’s not just inventory—it’s decades of regional memory erased in an afternoon.

Smoke taint outlook and cellar math

Here’s one thin silver lining from the professionals on the ground: much of the region was still pre-veraison—grapes hadn’t yet changed color—when the fires hit. That timing can reduce the risk of deep smoke compound absorption into berries, which typically spikes post-veraison. Sims told Wine-Searcher the hope is that smoke taint may have been averted. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a real reason for cautious optimism.

Even so, the cellar math is brutal. Museum stock—older vintages held back to show evolution, educate trade, and anchor brand identity—takes decades to build and minutes to lose. You can replant a vine; you can’t replant time. For collectors: don’t overreact and fire-sale your Aussie holdings. If anything, support releases from unaffected producers and, when safe, from those rebuilding. Expect some shipping delays and be patient—humans are behind those labels.

How you can help, meaningfully

Wine Victoria is coordinating information on affected producers and encouraging people to tap available support networks. If you want to be useful today, take Sims’s advice: “Buy direct, if you can” (via Wine-Searcher). Visiting cellar doors later matters too—tourism dollars help stabilize payrolls when insurance claims and rebuild plans are still in flux.

Other practical steps:

• Seek out Bendigo, Macedon Ranges, Strathbogie Ranges, and Yarra Ranges producers and purchase current releases.
• Sign up for mailing lists; recurring support beats one-off spikes.
• Share verified updates from Wine Victoria so buyers know where to channel demand.

Perspective: resilience without the sugarcoat

Australia knows fire. Black Saturday in 2009 reshaped both land and policy, and the wine community learned hard lessons on defensible spaces, water access, and emergency planning. Those playbooks help—but they don’t make losses like this easy. As Fowles recounted to Wine-Searcher, the night winds turned a hard fight unwinnable. That candor matters because it reminds us these aren’t abstract “producers”; they’re families, teams, and neighbors.

Meanwhile, not everything is lost. Vineyards can surprise you with regrowth after fire, and communities rally fast. The story isn’t just damage; it’s the rebuild—choosing what to replant, where to focus, and how to future-proof against the next extreme season.

Buying and drinking guidance

Looking to support Victoria with your glass? Here’s a simple framework:

• Style snapshot: Victoria spans bright, cool-climate whites (Chardonnay, Riesling) and elegant reds (Pinot Noir, Shiraz). Dry styles dominate, with medium to medium-plus body and fresh acidity.
• Best occasion: Casual dinners with friends or a low-key fundraiser night—any setting where the story behind the bottle can be shared.
• Best pairing direction: Keep it elemental. For reds, think grilled lamb or portobello mushrooms. For whites, roast chicken, salty cheeses, and herby salads. Let fruit and freshness do the heavy lifting.

Bottom line: this is the moment to align values with purchases. If you love these regions for their precise Chardonnays, nervy Pinots, and savory, peppery Shiraz, now’s the time to double down, not drift away.

Our hearts are with everyone on the ground—from the CFA crews to the cellar hands sorting the next plan. The wine will come back. In the meantime, we can help make sure the people do too.

Quotes attributed to Wine-Searcher.

Source: https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2026/01/wildfires-rip-through-victoria-wine-country?rss=Y