A vineyard near Angers, western France, December 16, 2014. JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD/AFP/Getty Images
Friday marked the start of Aussie Wine Month, Australia’s nationwide celebration of its wine industry with tastings, tours, and festivals. On the surface, the industry seems to be prospering. Australia has seen a rise of 3.6% in volume and 3.9% in value of wine exports in the 12 months ending in March 2015, according to the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AG&WA). Markets in Asia are driving this growth, for both bulk wine and high-end vintages, the latter of which is particularly popular in China.
But according to the Winemaker’s Federation of Australia (WFA), less than 15% of Australia’s wine grape growers made a profit last year. The country’s wine industry is becoming increasingly polarized, with bulk wine producers (forced to cut costs to stay competitive with other budget wine) on the verge of collapse while premium wine producers are seeing profitable growth for their pricey products. The AG&WA’s March report found that sales grew exponentially as wine prices increased. While bulk wine (which is under A$7.50 per liter and accounts for 95% of exports by volume) fell 4%, wine at A$7.50-10 grew 5%, that above A$10 grew 17%, and the ultra-premium segment, A$50 ($40) or higher, saw an astonishing 55% growth.
An anticipated depreciation of the Australian dollar should help all exporters, though. A levy of A$0.25 on all bottles of wine has been proposed by Senator Nick Xenophon, which the WFA said was a good discussion starter but that better overseas marketing would deliver more benefits. The WFA’s CEO Paul Evans believes that if the federal government were to spend $25 million on promoting Australian wines overseas, it would have a longer lasting effect — minus a price increase that could dissuade consumers. The AG&WA recently removed some red tape for importers of Australian wine, which falls in line with other countries’ requirements and is expected to increase demand and potentially lift prices.
China is the largest Asian market for Australian wine, but it is also rapidly developing its own wine industry. On Monday, the International Organization of Vine and Wine reported that China edged past France to have the world’s second-largest amount of vineyards by area. China’s 7,990 square km is behind Spain’s 10,210 square km, but still nearly double the vineyard area of the U.S. and five times that of Australia.
Yet that rapid growth, often backed by local government support, was more of a disorganized frenzy of planting vineyards without adopting industry best practices. “Many wine estates were built blindly, while little breakthrough was achieved in the selection of variety and plantation technology,” said Wang Zuming, head of the wine division of the China Alcoholic Drinks Association (CADA). A scarcity of highly trained winemakers, “a disproportion of price and value,” and an “old-fashioned” marketing strategy are among other major obstacles faced by the local industry, Wang added. Even Ning Gaoning, the chairman of Cofco, the state-owned grain company that operates China’s biggest wine producer, said that its wines are “not very good.”
Production is sure to increase further, since many existing vineyards were planted recently and have not yet begun producing grapes. But higher volume is no guarantee of higher profits. China’s largest wine producer Changyu reported a 6.72% decrease in net profit and a 3.8% drop in revenue in 2014, according to DecanterChina.com. And despite a 9% increase in revenue since 2011, overall industry profits dropped by 13.5%, and production increased only 0.35% over the same time period.
That said, the overall quality of domestic Chinese wines has been improving (however unevenly) over the last few years. And the industry is organizing itself in a more coherent integrated fashion — in late April, 17 wine associations from different parts of China established a trade body, the China Wine Associations Alliance (CWAA). The purpose of the alliance is to “integrate marketing resource, break through the barriers between production and sales, and create information exchange between the wine producing regions and sales regions,” said Zhang Jiansheng, secretary general of CWAA.
France, China’s winemaking role model, has seen an increase in Chinese students at its wine schools and a trend of Chinese investors buying up French vineyards. But France is still by far the world’s top wine producer by volume and the top exporter by value. Its mature wine industry produced 46.6 million hectoliters in 2014, over four times that of China. And while France is third in wine exports (behind Italy and Spain) by volume, it is first when measured by value. Average exported French wine commands nearly triple the price of average global exported wine. And the premium segment often fetches far more. In total, wine exports brought about $8.6 billion to the French economy last year. France has maintained its global lead even though vineyards in places with expanding wine industries like Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand are significantly cheaper per hectare.
All wine-producing countries want to tap the lucrative premium market, but it takes time to establish and scale up a domestic industry that can deliver such high-quality results. France and other European wine exporters have had a long head start, but the coming years may see a shift in global production gain momentum.
