Grape growers in Australia's largest wine-making region are struggling to turn a profit, as global trade conditions take their toll on the industry.
South Australia's Riverland is home to more than 900 wine grape growers, and produces about 40 per cent of Australia's crush every year.
Following a bumper vintage last year, global freight pressures, an excess of stock in storage, tariffs in China and changing consumer behaviour due to the pandemic, demand for grapes is low.
The pressures are particularly being felt by red grape growers, with the dent in the massive Chinese market following the introduction of tariffs.
Cooltong grower Jack Papageorgiou says the situation is so bad he is facing the possibility of dumping grapes for the first time in 48 years — a move that would still come at a cost.
"Don't forget I can't just dump it. I need to bring a harvester and contractor to get the grapes off," he said.
Mr Papageorgiou said he did not expect many growers in the region to turn a profit this vintage.
"We are well down on cost of production," he said.
"This 2022 vintage is one of the biggest challenges.
"It's going to be a challenging time for growers, contractors, carriers and processors. It's going to be really challenging in the next four months."
New markets key to future success
Fears the 2022 vintage could pose significant problems for growers began as soon as the previous year's results were made public.
Riverland Wine, which described 2021 as a "unicorn vintage", told its members to be prepared for low prices for red grapes in 2022.
CCW is a cooperative of 600 Riverland grape growers who sell their grapes to multi-national Accolade Wines.
The cooperative's chief executive, Jim Godden, said the industry had the ability to build up new markets and thrive, if it put in the effort to evolve.
"We've seen some incredible growth in some of the Asian regions, like Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand, and that shows the resilience of the wine industry, that pivot to new markets.
Mr Godden says he expects tough trade conditions to continue, but the extent to which they will affect future vintages is unknown.
"We're hoping that the pandemic effects will lessen towards the back of this year," he said.
"Some of the supply manager reports are indicating global freight has stabilised — but I don't think it's got better.
"There have been different impacts. It's not normal to have a pandemic and it's not normal to have the country shut down, so we need to come out the other side of that and see what that does to the industry."
Farmers face tough choices
Wine Australia's Rachel Triggs acknowledged some tough choices would need to be made across the industry, from growers to Australia's largest wineries.
"One of the things that we all love about wine is the changes from one vintage to another and it is subject to the vagaries of nature," she said.
"I think it's never been so important for grape growers and wine makers to be talking to each other, making decisions together and to be planning in such a way that creates a mutually beneficial outcome."
