Wine selling for just A$2 a bottle has been greeted with cheers by drinkers, who happily deride it as "two-buck chuck". But winemakers and grape growers say such steep discounts are pushing them to the wall, reports The Australian.

Woolworths sent shockwaves through the industry with special offers of unlabelled, or 'cleanskin', wines selling at less than A$2 a bottle at its Dan Murphy's and BWS liquor outlets.

Dan Murphy's national merchandise manager, Steve Donohue, said that the discounted chardonnay and cabernet merlot, normally sold labelled for A$6, met huge demand during the offer. Donohue said the offer was only possible because the supplier was desperate to offload the wine, even at a loss. "We weren't exactly cleaning up on it either," he said.

The move was reminiscent of the "two-buck chuck" wines in the US in 2003, when a glut of Californian grapes led to steep discounting.

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