Australian wine exports drop to 20-year low excluding sales to ChinaBy Selina Green and Jessica SchremmerABC RuralTopic:Exports3m ago3 minutes agoThu 1 May 2025 at 12:21amA recent Wine Australia export report shows a clear shift to premium wines. (Supplied: Kelsey Knight/Unsplash)In short: Australia sent more than a billion dollars worth of wine to China last year, but overall export figures show global sales are in decline. Exports to the rest of the world, excluding China, have declined to their lowest volume in more than 20 years, as consumers drink less.What's next?The wine industry has been calling for government support to establish new markets and products and help wine growers transition to different crops.abc.net.au/news/australia-global-wine-exports-decline-excluding-china/105228348Link copiedShareShare articleAustralian winemakers are deeply concerned about recent data indicating the nation is exporting some of its lowest wine volumes in more than two decades.Excluding China, the amount of Australian wine exported to the rest of the world declined in the past 12 months, as cheaper, bulk wine falls out of favour and health-conscious consumers drink less.While China took $1.03 billion worth of Australia's premium wine last year, Wine Australia's latest report shows the lucrative market has cooled from its peak.It has prompted Australian winemakers to again call for support to find new markets, or transition out of the industry.The Chinese market for Australian wine producers has reduced by more than two-thirds since 2018. (Supplied Kingston Wine Estates)Wine Australia marketing insights manager Peter Bailey said the industry faced tough times, and it could get worse."What it shows is the global wine market is facing considerable headwinds, which are impacting on the results outside of China, and they're unlikely to be resolved in the near term," he said."We're seeing a long-term trend of consumers drinking less alcohol due to health and wellbeing concerns, and more recently it's been around cost-of-living pressures, and these could get worse in certain markets given the economic and political turmoil taking place globally."Premium wine drives growthAustralia's overall wine exports increased 41 per cent in value last year to reach $2.64 billion, while overall volume increased by just six per cent.The increase in value was attributed mainly to premium wine heading to China after the removal of hefty tariffs last year.But the volume of wine exported to China was well below its pre-tariff peak, while exports to the rest of the world dropped by nine per cent.Almost 60 per cent of the wine produced in Australia is exported. (ABC Riverland: Will Hunter)Mr Bailey said China remained keen on Australia's premium wine but was not the solution to the industry's wider crisis."The lower volume and higher value demonstrate that China is very much a premium market for Australian wine and will therefore not solve any oversupply issues," he said.Call for government supportKingston Estate Wines, in South Australia's Riverland, is one of Australia's leading bulk wine exporters.Managing director Bill Moularadellis said the entire industry was adapting to a very different Chinese market since tariffs."We're all competing in a much smaller market, and there's been significant price deflation," he said.Mr Moularadellis said some premium brands had been able to grow sales in China, but it was important to look at the full picture."It will be a mistake to allow the Chinese export sales growth to hide and mask the contraction in world consumption and exports into our established markets," he said.Kingston Estate Wines exports about 90 per cent of its total production. (Supplied: Kingston Estate Wines)Mr Moularadellis said the "seismic shift" in global drinking habits required new markets and products to revive the industry."There has been a focus on premiumisation, and with that, there's been an abandonment of new product development that's targeted at new wine consumers," he said."We must concentrate our efforts and resources on entry level products that recruit new consumers that ultimately become the premium wine consumers of tomorrow."Mr Moularadellis said the industry was "unfairly disadvantaged" through China's tariffs and needed government assistance through an expanded export market development grant scheme.Some silver liningsMatt McCulloch, managing director at Langmeil Winery in the Barossa, welcomed the news that China had imported more than $1 billion worth of Australian wine last year.Australian wine exports fall in volumePhoto shows A hand reaches for a glass of wine. A Harry Potter book is on the coffee tableAustralian wine exports have been hit by a global trend in people drinking less alcohol and cutting costs, but hope remains for the re-opening of a major market."It's good to see the recovery in pretty challenging times that we've had since COVID, and then tariffs, then geopolitical tensions, cost-of-living pressures, overall … getting back up towards about 90 per cent of where we were before the events of 2020 onward took place," Mr McCulloch said."However, that's the headline numbers. Within that, there's a lot of pain in the industry out there still at the moment."Mr McCulloch said if consumption and production were falling for the Australian industry as a whole, but there was still an excess in the global wine sector, "then we've got to have a look at what we'll be doing in the future". "Which is focusing on being a better but not bigger industry, making fewer and finer wines," he said."But that's going to be a relatively painful transition for some, more than others."ABC Rural RoundUp newsletterStories from farms and country towns across Australia, delivered each Friday.Your information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.Email addressSubscribePosted 3m ago3 minutes agoThu 1 May 2025 at 12:21amShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top StoriesThe strange 'ballot-fellows' revealed on parties' how-to-vote cardsTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows green how to vote cards in the background with a text box that says enter your suburbDutton turns to Voice as cost of living alone won't save the CoalitionDAnalysis by David SpeersPhoto shows Anthony Albanese NPC for Speers ColumnPeter Dutton drops vow to change school curriculum, after 'indoctrination' claimsTopic:Public SchoolsPhoto shows Dutton looks down the barrell of the camera.US, Ukraine sign resources deal two months after Oval Office clashTopic:World PoliticsPhoto shows Scott Bessent and Yulia Svyrydenko sign papers at a desk in front of US and Ukrainian flags.Hackers have 'compromised' almost 100 bank employees, experts sayTopic:Cyber CrimePhoto shows A generic graphic image including a gold dollar sign and some websites.Related storiesWine grape growers demand safeguards for industry in 'crisis' Topic:ViticulturePhoto shows Shiraz grapes on the vine at the Kalleske winery in South Australia.'It's a crisis': Australian winemakers hail axing of Chinese tariffs, but warn it's no quick fixTopic:TradePhoto shows Wine harvest Australia good genericYounger people aren't drinking wine, and there's too much for saleAnalysis by Kath SullivanPhoto shows A bulldozer rips up rows of vines.Related topicsAdelaideBerriBusinessesClareConsumer GoodsExportsFood and DrinkKingston-On-MurrayMount GambierRenmarkViticultureTop StoriesThe strange 'ballot-fellows' revealed on parties' how-to-vote cardsTopic:ElectionsPhoto shows green how to vote cards in the background with a text box that says enter your suburbDutton turns to Voice as cost of living alone won't save the CoalitionDAnalysis by David SpeersPeter Dutton drops vow to change school curriculum, after 'indoctrination' claimsTopic:Public SchoolsUS, Ukraine sign resources deal two months after Oval Office clashTopic:World PoliticsHackers have 'compromised' almost 100 bank employees, experts sayTopic:Cyber CrimeJust InMurder trial over Erin Patterson's role in mushroom deaths continuesLIVE15m ago15 minutes agoThu 1 May 2025 at 12:08amVictorian farmer target of 'coordinated' sheep heist costing him $175kTopic:Livestock Farming25m ago25 minutes agoWed 30 Apr 2025 at 11:58pmProfessor warns of carbon farming risk in 'unlikely' success areasTopic:Agricultural Technology27m ago27 minutes agoWed 30 Apr 2025 at 11:57pmYamal hailed as a talent 'born every 50 years' after Barça draw with InterTopic:UEFA Champions League31m ago31 minutes agoWed 30 Apr 2025 at 11:52pmMore Just InBack to top