Up to 40% of Australian wine grape growers face financial ruin unless an A$60 million bailout fund is put in place to counter the grape glut dogging the industry, reports Sydney Morning Herald quoting the Mark McKenzie, Executive Director, Wine Grape Growers Council of Australia.

McKenzie will present plans for a federal government bailout fund to a crisis meeting at the Wine Industry Summit in Melbourne on Friday. The bailout could cost up to A$60 million to remove a glut of wine grapes from an oversupplied market.

Under the council's proposal, the growers would be compensated for not picking their grapes for the next two vintages -- either by leaving grapes on the vine or taking measures to stop the vines producing fruit.

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( Hyperlink: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Business/Grape-glut-hurts-wine-industry/2006/06/06/1149359712378.html )