Smoke taint is a broad term for a set of smoke imparted compounds found in affected wines, constituting a wine fault. Increasing incidences of smoke tainted wines are an important issue, given the recent occurrences of wildfires or bushfires in wine grape producing regions during the growing seasons. Examples of wildfires resulting in smoke tainted wines include the fires in South Africa in late 2017,[1] October 2017 Northern California wildfires, the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, and the 2020 Glass Fire in Northern California.
Whenever ambient smoke comes into contact with developing grapes on vines for a period of time, there is a risk that the grapes will carry smoke taint and impart this in wine made from them. The risk is higher with red wines, because their fermentation process includes the grape skins.