"Who is going to buy a grape farm that has no income for the next 12 months?"
That is the problem plaguing grape growers in southern New South Wales, according to Bruno Brombal, who says even if growers wanted to exit the industry it would be a hard sell.
This latest challenge comes at a time when many vignerons in the NSW Riverina and parts of South Australia and Victoria have been rain-affected or flooded when they should be gearing up to harvest their fruit.
"Some farmers have lost the whole farm, while others have losses of 35 to 50 per cent in some places," said Mr Brombal, chairman of Riverina Winegrape Growers (RWG).
"We are glad to see nice weather appearing, but the damage has been done where the water laid around for weeks and weeks.
"A lot of those crops have been destroyed and a lot of downy mildew got through it and they won't be harvesting those blocks."
The damage occurred at a critical period when the grapes were flowering.
"They were protected until they started flowering, [but] once the flower started opening and the little berry started coming out, it was no longer protected, and then we had a few days of wet weather and that was when a lot of them were wiped out," Mr Brombal said.
Disease and delays
Mr Brombal said growers were now working to salvage rain-affected grapes.
"The downy mildew is holding, but the next step is dealing with powdery mildew that seems be around on a few of the chardonnays," he said.
"So we've just got rid of one disease and now we're dealing with another."
Mr Brombal said the vintage was about three weeks behind for most growers in the Riverina.
"We're going to start harvesting in probably the second week of February this year, which is late," he said.
"We would usually start after the long weekend in January, but it's not going to happen this year."
Season weighs on growers
Mr Brombal said many growers were unsure of their future in the industry.
"Especially those who lost most of their grapes and [have] no income for the next 12 months," he said.
"While some growers are hanging on okay, depression probably seems to be the worst-case scenario out there for growers who lost their crops, and they don't know what to do for the next step."
Mr Brombal anticipated that some would try and exit the industry, while others would attempt to sell their irrigation water.
"High security water is about $9,000 a megalitre, but … [at the moment it] is not worth much, as the dams are full," he said.
"It's up to the grower, but I think some will get out."
Oversupply pressure eases
Australian Grape and Wine chief executive Lee McLean said it was a difficult period for growers with infrastructure damage caused by rain and floodwater, as well as the challenges of disease.
The 2022 Australian winegrape crush was estimated to be 1.73 million tonnes.
"There's no doubt that production overall will be down, but it's too early to tell what that disease and flooding impact is going to be from a national level," Mr McLean said.
"I'm tipping a below average-sized vintage for 2023."
Mr McLean said the Australian wine industry was in the midst of an oversupply situation due to trade restrictions imposed by China on Australian wines.
"So in some ways, a smaller vintage is not necessarily a bad thing for the Australian sector at the moment," he said.
