National grape harvest drops 8pc

Estimates from the 2009 Vineyards Survey indicate that total wine grape production was down 8 per cent from 2008, confirming industry expectations of a lower harvest.
According to the latest report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, wine grape growers cultivated 163,000 hectares of vines for the 2009 season.

The total bearing area for wine grapes was 157,000ha, while the area not yet bearing was 5300ha.

The ABS reports that red wine grape varieties comprised 61pc of the total area of vines and 61pc of the total bearing area.

However, total wine grape production in 2009 was 1.7 million tonnes, a decrease from 1.8mt the previous year.

South Australia remained the largest producing state with 748,000t.

New South Wales was the next largest producing state with 534,000t, followed by Victoria with 329,000t.

Red wine grape production (888,000t) was higher than white wine grape production (796,000t).

South Australia was the highest red wine grape producing state with 52pc (458,000t) of total red wine grape production.

New South Wales was the highest producer of white wine grapes with 37pc (296,000t) of total white wine grape production, closely followed by South Australia with 36pc (290,000t).