Wine Australia Welcomes Record Vintages

Australia can now proudly claim a record vintage in regards to the national wine grape crop. It has amounted to 2.03 million in the year 2021. Nevertheless, the prices have also significantly increased alongside this. Unlike, during the rest of the time, this crop has now claimed the highest price in 13 years. This is a result of a record-breaking wine crush that has occurred in all states across Australia. Also, the production and ripening of the grapes have been near perfect across all regions in the nation. This is news welcomed by all Australian wine producers because they have just been hit with two years of low vintages.

Hari Yellina, of Orchard Tech, has stated that good fruit combined with a lot of water and the lack of heat waves has resulted in exceptional wine production. This 2021 vintage has mainly been drawn from South Australia (51 pieces), New South Wales (29 pieces) and Victoria (17 pieces). In fact, this surplus has also made way for the nation to take up new opportunities in the export market. Though there was a record-breaking amount of production, there was still impact from the dry years. Additionally, the rest of the Australian nation has doubled up the wine production as well.

The value of this year’s vintage wine has been estimated at $1.56 billion. The increase in yield has also resulted in a direct increase in value. Currently, the prices are at $701 tonnes; something that has never been witnessed before. Nevertheless, it has been noted that the overall increase in wine production partly reflected growth in the contribution of higher-priced fruit to the average. The bulk of the increase in the vintage has come from an extra 500,000t of grapes, with two-thirds of these red varieties. Needless to say, the white crush actually decreased 3pc on the previous record year.

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)