Decanter World Wine AwardsAustralia 2011 harvest 'too big', says winemaker federation
- Wednesday 15 June 2011
- Comments (2)
Yields from the 2011 Australian and New Zealand harvests have exceeded all expectations.
Australia has recorded a larger crop than 2010 despite disease ravaging the country's wine regions while New Zealand has announced another record-breaking vintage.
The estimated Australian crush of 1.63m tonnes is a 1% increase compared to 2010, representing another blow for the country's producers, already battling with a wine glut and depressed prices.
Stephen Strachan, the Winemakers' Federation of Australia chief executive, 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 tonnes is out of step with the realities of sustainable production and the market opportunity for premium Australian wine.'
Across the Tasman, New Zealand Winegrowers has reported the 2011 crop reached 328,000 tonnes, more than 40,000 tonnes higher than the record 2008 vintage, which caused massive oversupply problems and falling profitability.
However, industry bodies including New Zealand Winegrowers and Wine Marlborough are defending the larger than expected crop, suggesting it is needed to meet growing demand.
Marcus Pickens of Wine Marlborough, 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 tonnes but increasing export sales speak for themselves and our markets continue to grow.'
Have your say!
Mark
June 16 13:08
I cant help but agree with James. The Large corporations and the Government for that matter encouraged all these vineyards to plant a ridiculous amount of Vines to keep up with "demand" at the time and now they want nothing to do with it other than to refuse to buy any more grapes. I say to all the grape growers who are being thumbed by the big boys.....screw them! Get some Olive groves happening, band together and get your own wine made along with other produce....take control of your product!
James Tilbrook
June 15 17:03
Sorry, but the WFA comments aren't helpful. You report the Australian harvest as "huge" but in fact it is just 1% more than 2010. Hardly "huge'! As an Australian wine producer and grape grower comments by WFA seem to lay the blame on the grape growers. Certainly this was the case in their Restructuring Plan. We feel that the blame should be laid at the feet of the mega wineries who encouraged mass plantings only to leave growers high and dry a few short years later. Over the last couple of years we have cut our already low yields even further in an effort to reduce overall tonnage and also to produce the best grapes we can. We suggested this course of action to WFA and Fosters but their response was dimissive. This pronouncement from WFA continues the trend.