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Wine buffs will have to stock up
26 Feb 2004
New statistics show that the 2003 vintage was the smallest in six years. The drought affected the grape harvest, which was down 15 per cent to just under 1.5 million tonnes. This was the lowest harvest since 1997, and down on the 2002 harvest of 1.75 million tonnes.
The 2003 grape crush fell 12.9 per cent to 1.4 million tonnes - but it was still the third largest on record.
White wines will be affected most, with the white grape crush falling to 570,000 tonnes, down 17.6 per cent. The red grape crush fell to 825,000 tonnes, down 9.3 per cent. Wine production overall decreased by 11.4 per cent to just over one million tonne. Production fell most in Queensland, NSW and the ACT, although Tasmania went against the trend and increased production.
Despite the decline in production, wine exports rose to 518.6 million litres, at a value of $2.4 billion. The EU took most, the majority going to the UK, followed by North America.
Domestically, sales of wine rose to 402.5 million litres, up 16.3 million litres.
News.com.au, 25/2/04.
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