Wine harvest up by a third

A high Australian wine crush will see the sector's surplus continue, according to Winemakers Federation of Australia chief executive Stephen Strachan.

Australia’s wine crush grew by nearly a third in 2008 to 1,830,673 tonnes, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figure was an increase of 433,323 tonnes on the 2006/2007 crush.

But Mr Strachan said the industry needed to downsize.

``We have been in surplus all this year, though not as extreme as up until 2006,’’ Mr Strachan said.

``We need adjustment in the industry…it’s starting to happen.’’