“Red wine glut hits Australian grape growers as China market collapse leads to dumped grapes and vineyard closures”

Matthew Chapple, a South Australian vineyard grower, is among many who are facing difficulties due to the oversupply of red wine grapes in the warmer inland areas. Wineries in these regions have too much red wine, especially shiraz and cabernet, as a result of the loss of the China market due to diplomatic disputes that led to huge tariffs on Australian wine in 2020. The excess red grapes have forced growers to drop their harvest on the ground as the wineries are paying more for less, reducing the price of grapes delivered. Similarly, Martin Howie, a vineyard grower, had to replace his grape vines with almonds. The recent drop in demand and prices on top of poor long-term average returns for grapes pushed Howie to make this decision. Jim Markeas, a grower and winemaker, lost 80% of his business when the tariffs came in and is converting his vineyards to organic, changing some varieties and diversifying into new products. While the impact of the oversupply is being felt most acutely in the inland regions that produce the bulk of Australia’s commercial wine, premium shiraz growing regions, including South Australia’s Barossa Valley, are also affected. Smaller winemakers, however, such as Josh Pfeiffer, have been able to experiment more with quality fruit and meet changing consumer trends. The hope is that China could return to the table soon and resolve the wine trade dispute, although it will not solve the problems immediately.