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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-07-12 Daily Xml
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WINE VINTAGE 2012

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (16:27): I want to reflect on the remarks of the member for Goyder and how we are all shocked. I personally know people who are involved with investments in The Dunes and I feel for them. I share the member for Goyder's hope that this can be turned around, because it is a great idea, a very good concept, and we all wish it success.

As the last speaker for this session in this place, I want to give the house a wine grape report for the 2012 vintage. Overall, the 2012 wine grape crush is estimated to be 1.53 million tonnes—the lowest production since the 1.41 million tonnes produced in 2006-07, as reported in the recent ABARE report.

However, oversupply is still an issue causing difficulties for the industry. Increased outbreaks of disease such as botrytis and downy mildew affected the wine grape production in 2010-11, lowering yields and affecting the quality of the grapes. Despite these lower than average yields, oversupply is still an issue. The recent ABARE report states on page 6:

The abundant supply of wine on the world market, the global economic slowdown and a strong Australian dollar relative to the currencies of Australia's major wine export destinations will continue to put downward pressure on the demand for Australian wine.

Projections included in the report are for wine grape production to increase by 5 per cent to 1.61 million tonnes in 2012-13 and a further 1 per cent to 1.63 million tonnes in 2013-14. The situation appears that it will get much worse. There are no easy answers and I really do feel for those long-time vignerons who are suffering.

They cannot sell their vineyards, so year after year they keep borrowing more money to try to recoup their losses. All that results is that they get further into debt. It is heartbreaking that you can still see more vineyards being planted when the current supply of wine grapes is a lot more than is required for our industry to remain viable.

There are some good stories emerging every day from the industry, though. Grant Burge recently took out the regional trophy for the best in the show at the Decanter World Wine Awards in London with his 20-year-old tawny port for the fifth time in the award's history. This is an absolutely fantastic achievement not only personally for Grant and his wife, Helen, but having a Barossa fortified gain such prominence in these awards is a fantastic advertisement for the region on the world stage.

Yes, we can match it with the best in the world with fortified wines as well as our marvellous reds—our shiraz and our cabernets. We can and do match the famed Rutherglen but I must admit their liqueur muscats are magnificent. The Decanter World Wine Awards received more than 10,000 entries from 50 wine-producing countries, so that is a real feat, a real feather in the cap.

Grant's 20-year-old tawny has previously received many awards at the Decanter World Wine Awards—gold medals in 2006 and 2009 and an international trophy in 2004, 2007 and 2010. Many members have knowingly or unknowingly tasted this wonderful old tawny because I have it in my Parliament House office. Many members have tasted it and I will be having some with my colleagues tonight.

Another Barossa victory is Kellermeister which also recently received world acclaim with their shiraz—the Wild Witch shiraz—named the best in the world at the International Wine Challenge in London, the largest wine competition in the world. The Kellermeister wine took out three awards in total: best Barossa, best Australian and best international shiraz. Wow! What an accolade is that! I think I will be buying up this weekend.

More than 12,000 wines were entered, with 400 judges assessing wines via the blind tasting method. It is an absolutely fantastic accolade and, like Grant's achievements in fortifieds, one that cements the Barossa region's reputation on the world stage. Given that the industry is experiencing difficult times, it is good to hear these good news stories. The Barossa truly is one of the world's great wine regions and I am extremely lucky to represent it.

I finish by offering assurance to all our grape growers and winemakers. We can and are turning this around—we must. Premium wines do and always will sell and we just happen to have the best reputation for producing the super premium shiraz and cabernets here in our region, particularly in the Barossa. Likewise, Coonawarra does as well. The legendary Grange speaks for itself as do other premium labels—the Hill of Grace, the RWT, the 707, the Bin 42 (I only have one bottle) and now the Wild Witch.

If you are not part of this, I say to the growers, you should strive to be, because there are options especially in relation to soil conditions. Yes, we can and should do more for our marketing and I am pleased to inform the house that, in a few days' time, the unique Barossa bottle will be launched—a bottle that is uniquely different and unmistakably Barossian. I look forward in a few days to attending the launch of this bottle.

Also, I want to recognise 10 years of the BIL scheme in a couple of days' time and the chairman, Mr David Klingberg, who we all know is retiring. I pay him a huge tribute for the legacy he has given because the BIL has certainly given our growers something to smile about. With that, can I say to the house that the 2012 vintage is going to be absolutely fantastic. They are the best grapes we have seen for many years and can I suggest to members, when they get the chance, they had better buy up.


At 16:33 the house adjourned until Wednesday 18 July 2012 at 11:00.


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