“The crush is definitely down. It’s well down [at] 1.27 million tonnes, which is the smallest since the year 2000,” Ms Hathaway said.<\/p>\n
![\"Generic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9b6fc1c281d09272162836ef3c41b558.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Red wine has been hit harder than white wine in the 2026 report. (ABC News: Alana Calvert)<\/p>\n
The decline in wine consumption globally has seen demand for grapes drop.<\/p>\n
As a result, Ms Hathaway said many grape producers were actually hopeful of a small crush.<\/p>\n
“We know global consumption is declining. So although it is a small crush and that does mean a lot less income into the regions, which is not a good thing, but it is a necessary adjustment.<\/p>\n
“This year income was down 26 per cent which is a lot at the weigh-bridge, it’s a lot for regional communities.”<\/p>\n
The weather also played a role in reducing the overall crush with flooding in Mildura, frost, and a late vintage, but Ms Hathaway said market conditions are believed to be the main driver of the reduced crush.<\/p>\n
Red grapes saw the largest decline with production down 29 per cent year on year, while white grapes declined by just nine per cent.<\/p>\n
It is only the second time in the past 12 years when white grapes have accounted for the majority of the crush.<\/p>\n
“There’s definitely a reset there. We’ll always have our awesome premium Shiraz, but as an overall category it does seem that is declining,” Ms Hathaway said.<\/p>\n
“Chardonnay overtook it this year to be the number one variety and it’s the first time in 20 years that Shiraz has had less than 20 per cent of the crush.”<\/p>\n
Changing identity of premium wine regions<\/p>\n
The lack of demand has seen vines being pulled out throughout Australia’s main wine grape-growing regions, including South Australia’s premium wine country.<\/p>\n
In McLaren Vale, vineyard contractor Clint Ledgard used to get a phone call every few weeks from a grower wanting their vines ripped out.<\/p>\n
In the past week or so he has been getting a phone call every day.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/84af5b9fe89a0b2e15732d8bfb8ab8d1.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Clint Ledgard at a vineyard in McLaren Vale which was recently pulled out. (ABC Rural: Cassandra Hough)<\/p>\n
“They don’t want to chuck any more money at grapes, not knowing what next year’s sale is going to be. That’s a big problem,” he said.<\/p>\n
“They’re just sick of \u2026 the guesswork, really. [They’re] looking at other crops, they want to look at options, whether it’s going to be pomegranates or whether it’s going to be grain, or whether it’s going to be olives.<\/p>\n
“There’s quite a lot of talk of alternative crops. Hemp has come up. So there’s certainly some options that people are looking at now that they weren’t looking at five years ago.”<\/p>\n
Famous for being the wine region by the ocean, the trajectory of McLaren Vale’s identity was rapidly changing as acres of vineyard were turned into lifestyle blocks, Mr Ledgard said.<\/p>\n
“We’re pulling out 10 or 15-acre (4 to 6-hectare) blocks at a time. Potentially someone’s going to come down and buy that [for housing].<\/p>\n
“Certainly there’s going to be some diversification with different crops, but not everyone’s going to jump on that.”<\/p>\n
Call for government assistance<\/p>\n
Wine grape and citrus grower in Kingston on Murray, Mintu Brar, said every year things had been getting harder for growers.<\/p>\n
He was hanging onto optimism that things would pick up again.<\/p>\n
“That is part of the life, [the] ups and downs,” he said.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f678803fc0111a5482447daef6cd155f.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Riverland wine grape grower Mintu Brar said every year things had been getting harder for growers. (ABC Riverland: Jackson Byrne)<\/p>\n
“It’s still confusing for us, but still we have hope that things will come back.<\/p>\n
“I’m very positive one day grapes will become a good thing [again].”<\/p>\n
In the meantime though, Mr Brar wanted to see more assistance from the government to help tie producers over until the market stabilised.<\/p>\n
“Every grower is wondering why they [the government] isn’t giving help to the wine growers. They are giving help to dry farmlands,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I have been asking them to please come here and have a look at [how things are] on the ground.<\/p>\n
“If [the] government can give us help for just the next five years, if they can freeze our loans [or] they can do other ways to help, then maybe this industry is still good.”<\/p>\n
Small shoots of optimism<\/p>\n
Of all of Australia’s cool climate growing regions just one was able to maintain their crush numbers this vintage.<\/p>\n
The Coonawarra wine region, best known for its cabernet sauvignon, only dropped by 0.5 per cent, compared to over 20 per cent for most cold climate regions.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1a3693efa4372ed1c62a2d14bfe7ae3d.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Owner of Patrick of Coonawarra, Luke Tocaciu, still believes there will be demand from premium wine in years to come. (ABC South East SA: Elsie Adamo)<\/p>\n
“Coonawarra has been able to maintain its crush numbers which is a really positive sign that premium cabernet sauvignon specifically is still in demand globally,” said Luke Tocaciu, the owner and winemaker at Patrick of Coonawarra.<\/p>\n
“We’ve seen the average purchase value decrease a little bit across all regions, also in Coonawarra.<\/p>\n
“Cabernet sauvignon is growing in the export market, which is really good to see. That’s great for Coonawarra.”<\/p>\n
Despite the current industry struggles, Mr Tocaciu said he was still feeling hopeful about the future of wine in his region.<\/p>\n
“I’m optimistic for regions like us that have got great water security and a great consistent product and a world-recognised brand,” he said.<\/p>\n
“There is certainly optimism around our region, but there’s certainly a big restructure of the whole industry that needs to happen”<\/p>\n
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