According to the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation, this year the country has already exported 805 million liters, worth around A$3.007 billion. , a figure dominated by sales to the USA and China.
The United Kingdom is Australia’s most lucrative export market, with A$974 million in sales, followed by the United States (A$972 million), Canada (A$273 million) and New Zealand (A$102 million).
Trouble seems to lie ahead though as CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, has predicted that global warming will jeopardize the wine industry and threaten the very existence of some varieties.
According to CSIRO figures, temperatures in most Australian wine regions will rise by 1.7°C by 2030.
Speaking to Reuters, lead researcher Leanne Webb explained that, ‘With earlier harvest in a warmer climate, the temperature of the ripening period in some regions will become too warm to produce balanced wines from some or maybe all grape varieties growing there now’.
Webb added that rises in temperature would reduce grape quality in some regions by 12 to 57 percent, with the pinot noir, sauvignon blanc grape and some chardonnay varieties virtually disappearing from the Australian mainland.
Sources:
CSIRO, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
www.csiro.au
Planet Ark
www.planetark.com