Australian wine production rebounds in 2021 vintage

Australian wine production has seen a big rebound in the most recent vintage, with a record crop of 2.03 million tonnes, according to Wine Australia’s National Vintage Report 2021.

The crop of 2.03 million tonnes benefited from “near-perfect growing and ripening conditions” and was up 31 per cent versus 2020 and 19 per cent versus 2019.

“Good fruit set, plenty of water at the right time, lack of heatwaves, low disease pressure, and favourable harvest conditions have resulted in a high-yielding, high quality vintage,” said Wine Australia General Manager, Corporate Affairs and Regulation Rachel Triggs of the “unicorn” vintage.

Production was led by South Australia with 52 per cent of the crushed grapes, NSW with 29 per cent, and Victoria with 17 per cent. 

“This vintage provides an opportunity for depleted inventory levels to be restored, ensuring we have the supply we need to take up new export opportunities,” commented Triggs.

She added that while some producers were seeing difficulties, concerns about the impact of Chinese tariffs on grape prices had not been realised during the vintage. 

However, in a note of caution, Wine Australia said the average value for red varieties declined in 2021 for the first time since 2014, with whites continuing to increase in value, apparently showing demand moving towards whites. Red wine varieties made up 57 per cent of the total crush.

“To make the most of our opportunities in markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom, the balance in supply between red and white winegrapes may need to change,” said Triggs.

“We are working closely with Austrade to grow our exports in emerging Asian wine markets such as South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, where there has been strong growth in recent times and where consumers strongly favour red wine,”

Pictures: Wine Australia

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