Quality over quantity for SA-Russia wine exports

 South Australia is exporting higher quality wines to Russia.

The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation says while the volume of wine being shipped to Russia fell in the year ending August 2008, the average price has gone up.

Russian importers are paying an average $9.50 a litre for South Australian wine, compared to $8.75 at the same time last year.

The instigator of the SA Russia Wine Project, MP Leon Bignell, says the Riverland has dropped off the exporting radar because of the drought.

"I would say that it's probably a reflection of the lack of water that growers have got up in the Riverland and we are talking about sort of the higher end of the market," he said.

"So they are probably doing well in other countries such as the US and the UK, but what we're seeing in Russia is these figures of $9.50 a litre average across all the regions compared to about $3 or $4 a litre in the US and the UK."