Tim's Ravings

The Australian wine industry is in trouble. Deep trouble.

Despite a vision 10 years ago to put Australia on the world wine map with premium, regional wines –such as Barossa shiraz and Coonawarra Cabernet – we’re now seen internationally as ‘cheap and cheerful.

We all rallied behind that premium, regional goal. All except the big companies who knew better and employed beer salesmen to go to London and New York and sell blended, commercial wine for under $10 a bottle. The buyers pulled the obvious bluff; “Discount please”.

The salesmen complied – after all, wine is made in factories. Mass marketing campaigns meant they sold heaps of Jacobs Creek, Rosemount and the like. Three-quarters of wine exports now don’t have a regional label. In the past decade exports doubled while our prices dropped by a third.

In short, we created a tidal wave of commercial, cheap wine that washed away the success that may have been achieved by our unique regional producers.

Giggling from the sidelines were disciplined old world producers like France and Italy who kept selling their regionally-based wines for good margins.

Soon big companies realised they were losing money and produced more wine – strangely they lost more money. So they discounted harder to increase cash flows. Curiously enough, this didn’t solve the profit problem.

Next they raised cash, selling off vineyards and wineries, and screwed desperate growers and bulk suppliers. Yippee. The industry is still losing money and taking on more poisonous debt.

Today, our Australian-based large wineries are on the brink of ruin, growers are in peril, there is a wine lake, and our goal of producing regional wines is in tatters. What happens next is as inevitable as it will be ugly.

I am actually quite annoyed about it. I urge you to support Australia’s small, regional winemakers and help keep our wine industry alive through the rocky times ahead.