Oversupply of cool climate wines

By MEREDITH BOOTH 07jun05

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COOL climate wine producers are making twice the amount of wine needed for export – pitting them against a harsh domestic market and oversupply, industry leaders say.Growers in South Australia's non-irrigated regions – the Limestone Coast, Mount Lofty Ranges, Barossa Valley and Fleurieu Peninsula – are likely to suffer again this year due to a lack of marketing support.

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Hardy Wine Company chief executive David Woods, speaking at a wine industry round table convened by The Advertiser last week, said cool climate wines generated 43 per cent of Australia's 1.96 billion tonne harvest this year but accounted for only 20 per cent of exports.

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"We're growing 100 per cent more cool climate wine than we're exporting. That's not going to be fixed easily," Mr Woods said.......................

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...................Angove's Wine executive chairman John Angove said "maybe for a year or two to come, the growers are on a pretty tough wicket in all regions.
"All the regions are oversupplied at the moment.
"The effect is more severe in the cooler regions than in the river regions.".............

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South Australian ADVERTISER