NEWS
AUSSIE HARVEST: RED WINE GRAPES DUMPED AMID OVERSUPPLY DUE TO LOSS OF CHINA MARKET
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
12-4-2022
Credit: Maja Petric/Unsplash
Australian wine grape growers have to leave some of their red grape fruits unharvested this season due to an oversupply of wine grapes caused mainly by the loss of the China market, according the Australian news channel ABC News.
In Sunraysia area of the bulk wine producing Murray Darling region in Victoria state, it was reported that about 15,000 tonnes of ripe grapes mostly Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot will be left in the vines in this harvest season.
One wine grape grower in the area, Russell Lynch, has just let 130 tonnes of Shiraz drop to the ground because he could not find a buyer.
Lynch said only two years ago, he was paid AUD700 (USD522) a tonne for his crop, while last year it was AUD400 a tonne.
"In December, when you do negotiations for fruit and contracts, it was apparent there was going to be an oversupply of red grapes," he told ABC News.
The 130 tonnes of Shiraz he has to dump this year accounts for about 10 percent of his harvest, that means about 90 percent of his grapes would still be made into wine this vintage.
Lynch also runs a grape harvesting business, he said several other growers on his books are preparing to dump their grapes as well.
"It's mostly Shiraz, Cabernet and Merlot [and] after Easter we'll go through and knock it on the ground," he said.
Growers in Sunraysia area are estimating that some 15,000 tonnes of red grapes will be left on the vines in the region alone.
They are estimating that millions of litres of wines are in storage in the area not being able to find any buyer.
Australian Grape and Wine chief executive Tony Battaglene said a number of issues had led to red grapes being in oversupply.
"The principal reason is the closure of the market with China due to the trade dispute and the imposition of the punitive tariffs on Australian wine," he told ABC News.
"That means a AUD1.2 billion market is closed."
The industry was also struggling to export wine overseas because shipping had been disrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"There is no short-term fix, but market diversification is obviously what we are targeting, so we've been looking at where we can get into other markets," he added.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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