Surprise! Australian Wine Grape crush for 2019 just 1% down

In very surprising news, Wine Australia today announced that the 2019 Australian winegrape crush will be 1.73 million bottles, just 1% lower than the long term advantage.

It is such a surprise given that yields in the Barossa, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills were all down by up to 70% (particularly in the Barossa, where losses in some scorched vineyards are 100%). Strong yields in the Limestone Coast and Riverland, however, offset this.

Of note, grape prices are up now to $664 per tonne, the highest since 2008 and the fifth year in a row of price increases. In other words, demand is getting stronger for grapes.

Some other interesting stats (these are based on survey results, so are likely just a representation):

• Wineries with a crush of over 50,000 tonnes took in 56% of the crush.
• Prosecco is up a monster 42%
• While Chardonnay is down 12%
• ‘Cool’ climate red grapes are now, on average, $534 more expensive per tonne than white grapes ($1530 vs $1096 tonne).
• The average price per tonne of Riesling is more than double that of Semillon.
• While the average price per tonne of Adelaide Hills Gruner is now $1973/tonne.

Some choice stats below, otherwise more info here.