Wine bins and harvesters sit idle as ash settles on smouldering vines — it's picking time at Topper's Mountain Wines on the New South Wales Northern Tablelands, but there will be no 2019 vintage.

Just hours before the season's first grapes were to be cut, the Tingha Plateau fire ripped through the basalt-soiled vineyard, devastating the crop.

"This wall of fire arrived on our southern boundary," said Topper's owner Mark Kirkby.

"Not long after that, it started spotting — that's when our priorities changed pretty dramatically."

Strong southerly winds fanned burning embers into the vines.

Row by row, fire took hold.

Mark Kirkby assesses his vines as fires continue to burn in in the background. ( ABC New England: Matt Bedford )

The Tingha fire held emergency status for more than 24 hours before it reached the vineyard, which sits less than 10 kilometres from town.

It is now at the bushfire advice level.

On Saturday, the NSW Rural Fire Service downgraded the Tabulam fire — a separate fire north of Tingha — to a "watch and act".

Firefighters from across the state had descended on the tiny regional community of Tingha in northern NSW for several days this week.

Our best stories in your inbox Subscribe to Rural RoundUp: Get our best stories from rural and regional Australia every Friday.

Aerial bombers and ground crews worked in tandem to peg back territory as the fire charged east on multiple fronts.

Long fingers of fire wrapped around the town on the north and south sides, razing six houses as it went.

On Wednesday, harvest day, talk of a southerly change began to dominate conversations — and when it hit, there was little anyone could do.

"It all happened in just a few minutes," Mr Kirkby said.

"Initially I was sitting in a chair watching the show — it was pretty impressive.

"And then when it finally got here, I thought bloody hell, this is getting a bit serious.

Fire looms on the boundary of Topper's Mountain vineyard. ( Supplied )

"The radiant energy was just amazing," Mr Kirkby said.

"Flames 30 metres high.

"It was hellish."

Topper's entire 2019 vintage was lost in minutes, just five hours before picking was scheduled to begin.

More than 70 per cent of the crop was destroyed in the flames and the remaining grapes are unusable because of smoke damage.

"The fire was going across the rows rather than along them," Mr Kirkby said.

"We couldn't get from one row to the next quickly enough to slow it down."

Topper's Mountain vineyard owner Mark Kirkby after fire devastated his 2019 vintage. ( ABC News: Matt Bedford )

Topper's Mountain Wines began life almost 20 years ago when a group, including Mr Kirkby, purchased the property for its rare basalt-capped soil.

"We bought the place not really knowing what we were going to do with it," Mr Kirkby said.

"Then we had a rush of blood to the head and planted some grapes."

In the beginning, the cohort experimented with many varieties, using the French wine-making concept Terroir as their guiding philosophy.

Since then, they've imported many rare varieties including an Australian first that is yet to be released.

It too was taken by fire on Wednesday night.

"We've probably lost somewhere in the region of $500,000," Mr Kirkby said.

"That's assuming none of the vines have been killed, which would be the worst outcome."

Mark Kirkby holds tainted grapes in his hands after the fire tore through his vineyard. ( ABC New England: Matt Bedford )

Many varieties are expected to recover and continue to produce grapes in the coming season.

But the full extent of the damage won't be known for many months.

"There is going to be an effect on next year's vintage as well," he said.

"The full impact is something we probably won't know until next spring."

Cooler conditions and moderate winds on Friday gave firefighters an edge and the fire was downgraded to watch and act status.

But the sound of water-bombing helicopters and a red smoky sunset are reminders of the ongoing challenge firefighters face as they near a week on the fireground.

At Topper's, after another long evening of monitoring firebreaks and backburning operations, the team cracks open a 2005 vintage Chardonnay Arneis.

It's one of their early experimental bottles and a talking point for reflecting on the fact that only grapes, and not lives, were lost this week.