Australian wine industry feels heat from climate change

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian grape growers reckon they are the canary in the coalmine of global warming, as a long drought forces winemakers to rethink the styles of wine they can produce and the regions they can grow in.

The three largest grape-growing regions in Australia, the driest inhabited continent on earth, all depend on irrigation to survive. The high cost of water has made life tough for growers.

Some say they probably won't survive this year's harvest, because of the cost of keeping vines alive. Water prices surged above A$1,000 a megaliter last year from around A$300.

Australian Century Chateau wine promotion will be held in Shenzhen on March 28

Australian Century Chateau wine promotion will be held in Shenzhen on March 28. Lots of wine dealers, wine experts and media will be invisted to the promotion. The wine experts will introduce 11 varieties of Australian wine from Century Chateau and also tell how to pair with dishes. At the same time, there will be a series of auctions at the wine promotion.

The purpose of the promotion will bring the most excellent Australian wine and special wine culture to wine lovers. Shenzhen will be the first stop for it to enter China market.

Australian wine exports falling

The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation released the figures, which showed that value had declined 0.1% to $2.9 billion while the average price grew 5% to $3.86 per litre.

The main contributors to the downturn in volume were a 25% or 57 million litre decline in bulk wine shipments, plus a 46% or 8 million litre decline in soft pack shipments. Partially offsetting this volume decline was a 5% or 28 million litre growth in bottled wine shipments.

Significant highlights included the UK remaining the top export market by volume and value, and volumes to the US being down 37 million litres, accounting for 70% of the decline in bulk shipments.

Australia's newest wine region

Wines from "New England Australia" in the New England and north-west regions will be featured in the NSW State Government's next Regional Food and Wine Showcase at Parliament House in Sydney in May.

The new wine region is one of Australia's largest at 27,000 square kilometres. It is already home to 42 vineyards and boasts a diversity of growing conditions, from high altitude, cool climate vineyards along the spine of the Great Dividing Range to lower and warmer growing sites on the western edges of the New England Tablelands.

The region has a long history of wine making, dating back to the 1950s, when the Wyndham family established vineyards near Inverell to provide red wine for their Hunter Valley cellar.

The Australian 2008 wine harvest has been upgraded

At almost 50% complete, the 2008 Australian winegrape harvest looks set to deliver between 1.55 and 1.65 million tonnes.

Continuing a turn towards supply/demand balance, the revised figure is up on the pre-harvest estimate of 1.22 million tonnes, largely due to improved water allocations and active water trading in the warm inland districts.

Nationally, the increase in crush compared to last year is the result of an overall increase in yields combined with a marginal increase in bearing area.