How will global warming change Australian wine?

This article discusses some of the ways that global warming effects wine production. Wine is a complex substance. A good wine is the result of an intricate process with many factors influencing the bouquet, the flavour, the longevity and the enjoyment of each bottle. That's why every wine is different; that's why we love the stuff. Vintages vary from year to year. Wines from different regions vary, even if made from the same grape varieties.

A major influence on wine quality is the temperature during few weeks before ripening. If it's too hot the grape makes lot's of sugar and no flavour compounds; too cold and there won't be enough sugar or flavouring compounds to make good wine.

Much of the quality of a wine depends on a group of substances called polyphenols, or phenolics. You'll hear wine buffs rabbiting on about them from time to time.

A south-west Western Australian wine bottling facility is looking to switch to nitrogen gas

The Capel Vale Winery usually uses carbon dioxide to bottle wine for 100 WA wineries, but has been unable to source any CO2, because it is no longer being produced, due to the gas shortage.

The winery has now opted to use nitrogen gas which costs three times as much.

Site manager Keith Warrick says he is negotiating with his supplier, working out the logistics to get the nitrogen to the south-west.

"They have at least had somebody on site that's determined the appropriate location for the bulk vessel, the amount of engineering that's going to be required to get it up and running," he said.

Australian Bulk Wine Exports Plummet

A thirty three percent decline in bulk wine shipments and 41 percent drop in tetra -pack shipments has led to a nine percent drop in the volume of Australian wine exports, reports Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation.

The volume of wine exports fell to 724 million litres in the 12 months to the end of May this year, the AWBC says, while the value of overall wine exports dropped seven per cent to $2.8 billion, in the same period.

Lawrie Stanford from the AWBC says while bulk shipments have declined, the rate of bottled shipments has also slowed in recent months as they grew only 1%, by 8 million litres.

Australian winemaker turns waste water into winning wines

World-beating winemaker Michael Fragos sees his South Australian vineyards as the perfect spot to grow grapes -- the soil, climate and afternoon sea breeze are all ideal.

The only problem is the lack of water in one of the country's driest states, a hurdle that he and other McLaren Vale vignerons have overcome by using treated waste water to irrigate the deep green vines.

A visit to the area is testimony to the long-running drought and scorching Australian climate -- any land where vines are not growing is crackling dry.

THE soaring Australian dollar is costing major wine exporters millions of dollars

While exports reached a record $3.02 billion last year, experts say a combination of drought, the high dollar and foreign competition means the industry now faces significant challenges.

Bottled wine exports are still growing but at a declining rate and experts believe the growth may stop within two months.

The rising dollar is particularly hitting the price-sensitive cheaper end of the market, as the buoyant Aussie dollar makes exports more expensive.