Vines are down but wines are up, ABS says

Favourable seasonal conditions mean Australian wine production has increased despite the actual area of grape vines decreasing, according to new figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Since 2010, the total area of vines decreased by 6% to 145,000 hectares while total wine grape production was 1.6 million tonnes - an increase of 3%. The decrease was due to poor market conditions that led to the removal or abandonment of vines. However, this was offset by good seasonal conditions that saw the overall yield increase by 6% to 11 tonnes per hectare.

Red wine grape production decreased by 5% to 806,000 tonnes, impacted by rain in southern and eastern Australia. These same conditions, however, had little impact on white wine as most grapes had already been picked. White wine grape production increased by 13% to 776,000 tonnes.

Shiraz, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon accounted for nearly two thirds of total production, the ABS said, continuing as the most popular wine varieties.

This information was part of the Vineyards Estimates Australia, 2012 report, which is available free of charge from the ABS website.