Australian Wine Exports Plummet, but rise in China

The value of Australia's wine exports plummeted 18 per cent in 2008 with the strong Australian dollar crippling exports in the first half of the year.

Figures from the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation show wine exports also fell 11 per cent in volume in the last year.

And just when things started looking up in the second half of the year, with a lower dollar and better than expected grape harvest, the global financial crisis started to eat into the thirst for Australian wine.

Even so 2008 was still the fourth highest on record for the volume of wine exported, and Asia continued to show its thirst for wine with the Chinese market alone growing 32 per cent in value.