Wine

South Australia produces more than half of all Australian wine exports and is the world’s sixth largest wine producer. ¹

The State’s exuberant wine sector has helped to position Australia as the largest New World wine exporter and fourth in the world after France, Italy and Spain.

South Australia is the centre of the Australian wine industry and takes a lead role in growing wine grapes, manufacturing and blending wine, wine testing and wine bottling.

South Australia is perfectly suited to wine production, with warm summer conditions and good soil conditions. ²

Overview

Investment and business opportunities exist in selective grape growing and winemaking that targets the price and quality combinations suited to specific consumer market segments, research and development of wine grape growing and new wine varieties, wine waste management, transport and logistics, land use planning, salinity management, wine-related tourism and services to the wine industry. ³

Output

• 73,407 hectares planted to vines in 2007, or 42% of Australia's total planting.⁴

• 583,340 tonnes of wine grapes produced in 2007, or 42% of Australia's production.⁵

• 605,100 tonnes of wine grapes crushed in 2007, or 43% of Australia's total crush.⁶

• 447.6 million litres of wine produced in 2006-07, or 47% of Australia's total.⁷

Exports

• $2 billion wine exports in 2007.⁸

• 21% of total State goods exports. ⁹

• 31% growth from 2006.¹⁰

• 453 million litres of wine exported in 2006-07, or 58% of Australia's total.¹¹

• Key export markets are the USA, UK, Canada, Netherlands and New Zealand, with Northeast Asia emerging as a key market.

Employment

• The wine industry employed 10,759 people in South Australia in 2006, or 1.6% of the State's total employment.¹² 

• 563 wine producers in South Australia in 2007.¹³

Research and development

South Australia is home to world-leading reserach and development institutions (Australian Wine Research Institute, Wine Innovation Cluster), Australia’s National Wine Centre and to  education programs in viticulture, wine science and wine business (TAFE, University of Adelaide and University of South Australia).

Geographic focus

Wineries are concentrated in four key locations:

• the south-east of South Australia - around Coonawarra;
• north of Adelaide - in the Barossa Valley and Clare Valley;
• in regions surrounding Adelaide - including the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale; and
• the north-east of South Australia, in the Riverland.

Industry groups

Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation
Australian Wine Research Institute
Wine Innovation Cluster
Cooperative Centre for Viticulture
Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation
The Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology
Winemakers' Federation of Australia
Wine Grape Growers' Australia
Wine Industry Suppliers Australia
South Australian Wine Industry Association
Phylloxera and Grape Industry Board of South Australia
Winery Engineering Association

Case studies

Jacob’s Creek
Hardy Wine Company
Upper Murray Case Supplies

 

1. Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation

2. IBIS World Australia 2006, Wine Manufacturing in Australia.

3. Primary Industries and Resources South Australia 2005.

4. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cat. no. 1329.0.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

7. ibid.

8. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cat. no. 5368.0, unpublished.

9. Ibid.

10. Ibid.

11. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Cat. no. 1329.0.

12. South Australian Wine Industry Employment Strategy Project, 2006 Workforce Profile, February 2008.

13. Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory 2007.