ARTICLE: Grape prices to force growers off the land

[n4sir]

Two pretty closely related articles about how tough it has been in the Riverland lately:

Grape prices to force growers off the land
Business Reporter Cameron England
From: The Advertiser
January 02, 2011 8:28PM

GRAPE prices that are below the cost of production are likely to force more growers off the land this year.

The current vintage is expected to be a losing proposition for significant parts of the industry.

A wet summer season, with associated crop damage and chemical costs caused by the need to spray for downy mildew, also will impact on growers.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 5980629909


Grape growers count $180m cost
Meredith Booth
From: The Advertiser
January 02, 2011 8:42PM

RIVERLAND grape growers' combined income has declined by $180 million in the past eight years.

As the grape harvest begins in the region for some varieties in mid January, estimated income "at the farmgate" will be on par with last year at $75m, Riverland Grape Growers Association executive director Chris Byrne said.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 5980635781


Cheers,
Ian

[daz]

Yep, they've been screwed by the corporates and the industrial production levels demanded by same in a world awash with surplus wine. But there still seems to be a sufficiently significant number of well-heeled buyers to keep the premium products cruising along at ridiculous prices.

[Moredsir]

The cleanskins from WoolColes will be getting cheaper?

[daz]

The cleanskins from WoolColes will be getting cheaper?

$2.00/btl when heavily discounted, not likely.

[n4sir]

A similar story today from the ABC website:
Winegrowers tipped to quit as profits dive
Posted 24 minutes ago

"The Wine Grape Council of South Australia says some growers will abandon their vineyards at the end of the season, with many failing to make a profit.

In recent years, growers in warmer areas have started picking around Australia Day but Chris Byrne from the Riverland Wine Grape Growers Association says cooler weather has delayed harvest.

"Another three weeks probably, perhaps even four weeks," he said.

Growers have had to contend with a number of issues including an outbreak of the fungal disease downey mildew."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... 119710.htm

Cheers,
Ian

[DaveB]

It wasn't that long ago that Riverland growers were being paid for their grapes in brandy spirit....it has never been easy being a grape grower

[Waiters Friend]

The cleanskins from WoolColes will be getting cheaper?

$2.00/btl when heavily discounted, not likely.

Have you seen Get Wines Direct recently? Sorry Gavin for raising an online rival (and feel free to delete this post if you feel it necessary). My father pushes some of the so-called bargains at me from time to time (I push back). The prices are reducing in pace with the dam levels in WA, two cases for one, etc and what offends me the most is the pretence to quality. The most recent email I was forwarded offered $730 value for less than $180 - of wine that couldn't make it in the 'real' marketplace. You get what you pay for, and as a result I will continue to buy through people who have some belief and interest in their product.

[n4sir]

Growers fear disease from abandoned vineyards
ABC News
Updated 2 hours 44 minutes ago

Hundreds of hectares of abandoned vineyards across South Australia could be harbouring disease, the Wine Grape Council of SA fears.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... 129620.htm

[Luke W]

The cleanskins from WoolColes will be getting cheaper?

$2.00/btl when heavily discounted, not likely.

Have you seen Get Wines Direct recently? Sorry Gavin for raising an online rival (and feel free to delete this post if you feel it necessary). My father pushes some of the so-called bargains at me from time to time (I push back). The prices are reducing in pace with the dam levels in WA, two cases for one, etc and what offends me the most is the pretence to quality. The most recent email I was forwarded offered $730 value for less than $180 - of wine that couldn't make it in the 'real' marketplace. You get what you pay for, and as a result I will continue to buy through people who have some belief and interest in their product.

Hi Alan

I can appreciate your sentiments but am not sure about the accuracy of your comments. Sure you can buy crap through GWD but you can often get quite good wines that wineries need to flog to maintain cashflow, and the other point is that there are a lot of people out there who are quite happy buying crap whether it is through GWD or Dan Murphy's at $2 a bottle (however to be fair I have enjoyed an occasional bottle from there as well). Hell, one of the best chardys I've drunk this year was about $3 a bottle through graysonline (doing much the same thing as GWD).

In fact I think sometimes Tony keeps some of these wineries afloat through selling their surplus wine for them. Also a lot of the wine sold is from wineries that go under (not GWD's fault) and they've got to be offloaded somewhere.

As for the hype, anyone with any experience in buying wine doesn't take that too seriously surely......

cheers

Luke

[Wizz]

Growers fear disease from abandoned vineyards
ABC News
Updated 2 hours 44 minutes ago

Hundreds of hectares of abandoned vineyards across South Australia could be harbouring disease, the Wine Grape Council of SA fears.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... 129620.htm

Doesn't need hundreds of hectares for this risk to arise - if any vineyard isnt mothballed properly it can affect the vineyards around it. I'm jut back from a week in Central Otago and saw evidence of disease spreading from an abandoned vineyard of only about 400 vines to a well maintained, commercially productive vineyard next door to it.