India's First Wine, Food and Hospitality Website, INDIAN WINE ACADEMY, Specialists in Food & Wine Programmes. Food Importers in Ten Cities Across India. Publishers of delWine, India’s First Wine.
 
 
Skip Navigation Links
Home
About Us
Indian Market
Wine & Health
Wine Events
Hotels
Retail News
Blog
Contact Us
Skip Navigation Links
Wine Tourism
Book Review
Launch
Winery
TechTalk
Photo Gallery
Readers' Comments
Editorial
Media
Video Wall
Media Partners
Ask Wineguyindia
Wine & Food
Wine Guru
Perspectives
Gerry Dawes
Harvest Reports
Mumbai Reports
Advertise With Us
Classifieds
US Report on Indian Market Released
Top Ten Importers List 2015-16
On Facebook
 
On Twitter
Delhi Wine Club
 
Aussie and Kiwi Grape Crops Exceed Forecasts

Posted: Wednesday, 22 June 2011 17:43

Aussie and Kiwi Grape Crops Exceed Forecasts

June 22: While the Australian harvest of 2011 has been 1% higher at 1.63 million tons than the estimates despite a year marred by diseases, heavy rains and floods destroying up to 80% of crops and thus creating more problems for the producers already battling with wine glut and depressed prices, New Zealand has also exceeded all expectations and has announced another record-breaking vintage.

The increased Australian harvest under the current scenario is not a good sign as sustainable production. Stephen Strachan, CEO of the Winemakers' Federation of Australia, said, 'The vintage is too big. It may seem harsh, given the year many people have had, to focus on the longer term rather than the demands of the present, but a harvest in excess of 1.6m tons is out of step with the realities of sustainable production and the market opportunity for premium Australian wine.'

''Twenty years ago, if we had a season like this we would not have been able to put away a crop of anywhere near this level. We have seen dramatic improvements in the way we manage wet seasons in Australia and it's a credit to our grape growers,'' Strachan added.

Much of the wine produced is expected to go into the bulk wine market. Strachan said although Australia could produce large wine crops, the bulk wine market was not sustainable.  He called on winemakers to consider partnering with growers to share the cost of removing excess vines, rather than selling them into a production pool that sold to the bulk wine trade.

Many growers are being forced to sell their grapes at A$ 150 a ton- half the amount needed to break even- a situation many growers have suffered and learnt the hard way in India during the last couple of years. But the consumer is expected to be benefitted and if the Indian wine importers are smart they can negotiated lower prices and pass on the benefits to the Indian consumer, thus increasing the market share of Australia wines .

However, the WFA report shows that the current vintage estimates were on par with the five-year average of 1.63 million tonnes, with inland regions increasing their share of the grapes crushed against a fall in cool climate regions.

Interestingly, more white grapes were produced than red, accounting for 52 per cent of the harvest as Chardonnay became the most popular variety crushed, more than the signature grape varietal, Shiraz, according to Decanter.

The equivalent Kiwi professional body, New Zealand Winegrowers has reported that the 2011 crop reached 328,000 tons-about 40,000 more than the previous record vintage in 2008 that had caused massive oversupply problems and reduced profitability. However, the association defends the larger than expected crop, claiming it will help to meet the growing international demands.

Marcus Pickens of another professional body Wine Marlborough, reportedly said, 'I'm reassured that we have all learnt a lesson since 2008. Don't bring more fruit in than you can sell. The harvest is a lot bigger than the expected 310,000 tons but the increase in export sales speak for themselves and our markets continue to grow.'

       

Want to Comment ?
Name    
Email       
Please enter your comments in the space provided below. If there is a problem, please write directly to arora@delwine.com. Thank you.
 

Captcha
Generate a new image

Type letters from the image:


Please note that it may take some time to get your comment published...Editor

Wine In India, Indian Wine, International Wine, Asian Wine Academy, Beer, Champagne, World Wine Academy, World Wine, World Wines, Retail, Hotel

     
 

 
 
Copyright©indianwineacademy, 2003-2020 |All Rights Reserved
Developed & Designed by Sadilak SoftNet