Signs that wine industry is picking up

Wine Australia, the marketing authority, says the industry is starting to pick up again after five years of falling prices.
The total annual domestic and export value of the industry has fallen 20 per cent from a peak of $5 billion five years ago.
The price of export wine is starting to go up, particularly premium wine.
Marketing director Aaron Brasher says it will be helped by smaller wine grape harvests overseas.
"The US harvest is down this year. The New Zealand harvest is down 30 per cent, by some reports," he said.
"I sense some equilibrium starting to happen, but it's still a long way from fruition there and we just need to ride out the next couple of years and we're seeing some green shoots of hope."

Wine Australia says after falling in value by one billion dollars in five years, or 20 per cent, it stabilised in 2010 to be worth roundly, $4 billion. In fact in 2011 the price even began to rebound.
Sales will need to rise, because wine grape production is again creeping up.
The crush was four per cent bigger this year at 1.66 million tonnes, at a time when it should be continuing to fall.

Its marketing campaign includes training sommeliers in the UK, US and Asia in tasting the regional differences of Australian wine.
"Over 500 Amercian sommeliers have sat through Australian wine lessons and tastings, in China we've had 1100 people go through 'A plus' wine schools. We've had 24 wine educators throughout Asia mostly in China."