RECORD OUTPUT FOR AUSSIE WINERIES

The 2004-2005 Australian grape crush reached a new height, trumping the previous year’s record levels. The Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that 1,925,490 tonnes of grapes were crushed in 2004-05 which is 8,252 tonnes higher that 2003-04. This means that 1,422.8 million litres of wine will be produced on the island, an increase of 1.3%, with 669.7 million litres of exports throughout the year. Export shipments have gone up 14.6% with an 8.9% rise in value to over A$2.7 billion.

But within Australia’s record harvest, Hardy Wines, a division of Constellation, has made history with the largest grape crush for any Australian wine group at 363,550 tonnes. According to Peter Dawson, the chief winemaker, “Favorable seasonal conditions contributed to higher than expected yields in the warmer inland regions of the Riverland and Sunraysia. This was a stark contrast to the cool regions, which generally had lower yields.” Peter claims that Hardy Wines’ output increased by 10% from 2004 and makes up 20% of the total Australian wine vintage.