News

Wine Australia’s free, comprehensive education program Australian Wine Discovered (AWD) has been refreshed and 25 topics are now available online with additional resources, updated commentary and advanced notes.

The value of Australian wine exports continued to grow in the 12 months to 31 March 2020, but Wine Australia reports that the full impact of COVID-19 on exports is still to come.

Total wine sales exceeded production for the second year in a row, indicating a tightening of supply and contributing to increased value for the sector, according to Wine Australia’s Wine Production Sales and Inventory report 2019 released today. 

Exceptional growth in demand for Australian fine wine saw the total value of Australian wine exports grow by 3 per cent to $2.91 billion in the 12 months to December 2019.

The value of Australian wine exports has continued to grow in the 12 months to June 2019, increasing by 4 per cent in value to $2.86 billion. China continued to drive growth and the United States of America (USA) also made a welcome return to growth.

In our most recent Export Report 2019–20, we highlighted that the impact of COVID-19 on exports to the USA had not been negative to date. This news is particularly interesting given export value was in a gradual decline prior to lockdown restrictions.

Like many markets around the world, the ways Canadian wine consumers engage with the category has been strongly affected by restrictions put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. These changes are amplified by the fact that 2019 was a poor year for the volume of wine sales in Canada. 2020 has seen a rebound in wine sales through the provincial liquor boards and Australia wine is among the beneficiaries.

In an unprecedented show of support for the wine market in the United States of America (USA), the largest-ever promotion of Australian wine in the USA will commence on 17 September 2019, with more than 100 Australian wine exhibitors showcasing 193 Australian wine brands to thousands of trade and consumers across 6 American cities.  

Wine Opinions’ five-year trade and consumer research program (funded by Wine Australia) is now complete, and the final year report has revealed the key areas that should be a focus for Australian wine promotion in the United States of America (USA).

The latest research with the trade in the United States of America (USA) points to how Australian wine can grow its share of the premium segment of world’s largest wine market.