Aussie's make less but we're drinking more
Australia's grape crush was down 5.4% in 2008-09 weighing in at 1.7 million tonnes, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The area of grape vines fell by 157,000 hectares and the yield dropped to 10.7 tonnes per hectare.
The 13 largest winemakers accounted for 73% of the total and a third was processed in South Australia, accounting for 43% of the national grape crush.
Exports of Australian wine up 5.2% (to 752 million litres) and domestic sales increased slightly to 430 million litres.
