South Australia’s wine industry is facing lower yields and low prices but growers say grape quality is very good this year thanks to a mild summer.
Key points:
- South Australian vintage yields are down, but the grapes are good quality
- The entire industry is feeling the fallout from the China trade dispute
- An SA winery has taken out a major national award on the strength of its pivot from the China market
The Riverland produces around 40 per cent of Australia’s crush and is home to more than 9,000 growers.
The CEO of grower cooperative CCW, Jim Godden, said storage shortages and freight issues have extended the season, while growers dealt with very low prices.
He said fruit normally ready to be processed has to be held and wait until there is room available in the supply chain.
“We’re all hanging on at the end. We have global conditions to work with, we’ve got increased costs coming at us like anybody at the moment. We’re all hearing about cost of living pressure,” he said.
“We’ve seen a decrease in pricing definitely in the red varieties, white held a little bit. [But] there wasn’t as much pressure given the northern hemisphere frost issues.”
‘Homeless fruit’
The entire Australian industry continues to deal with the fallout from the trade dispute with Beijing.
Ten per cent of national production was previously earmarked for China.
Coonawarra Vignerons Association president Peter Balnaves said the effects continue to be wide reaching.
“I have certainly heard of some homeless fruit in the region at this stage that could be mopped up in the next couple of weeks.
“I think there’s the potential for probably 10 per cent, perhaps, of the region to be in that circumstance.”
McLaren Vale winery Shottesbrooke Vineyards, which had a large exposure to China, won the President’s Medal at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
The family-owned business beat 4,000 other competitors to win.
Managing director Hamish Maguire said it was their flexibility when it came to market pressures that impressed the judges.
“We had a big export business, we were focused on China,” he said.
“Come two years later, and with the China tariffs and that market being closed to us at present, we had to really reset and look at our offering.
“I think [it] probably showed the judges how we were able to — I dare I say — pivot and come up with an offering that suited the current climate.”
Mr Maguire said this year’s vintage was excellent quality thanks to the mild summer.
“That really gave us the opportunity to pick when we’ve wanted to through harvest instead of being forced to by heatwaves,” he said.
“More time on the vine, as I said, is more colour and more flavour.”
‘Really good flavours’
Mr Balnaves said while yields in the 2022 vintage were down, grape quality was higher.
“From a quality point of view, I think it could well be that ’22 is actually better than ’21 just because it’s been cooler and there hasn’t really been any pressure to pick anything,” he said.
In Port Lincoln, Peter Teackle Wines’ chief winemaker Liz Heidenreich said rain during summer and mild temperatures has led to a great vintage for both white and red varieties.
“The long time on the vine means great balance and some really good flavours,” she said.
“Everyone’s raving about the whites.
“The reds, the early indications are that they will look really good.”
Storm damage
Storms ripped through the Barossa, Murraylands, and Riverland regions in October and November last year.
It was estimated the regions suffered a total of $350 million worth of damage.
The impact was widely felt during this year’s vintage, according to viticultural development manager for Barossa Australia, Nicki Robins.
“Some have recovered some crop, but the yield is pretty low this year as a result of that hailstorm,” she said.
In the Riverland, CCW’s Jim Godden said it had a significant impact on fruit.
“Early indications were 9,000 tonnes [were affected], they probably went up from that,” he said.
“There are growers that have directly been impacted by a significant amount of 50-60 per cent loss.”
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