Aus wines are trying to take over the world, and get everyone drunk

***Bond James Bond*** · September 2nd, 2004, 08:58 PM

Phillip Ryan, far left, and Greg West of McWilliams Wines plan to increase sales to America substantially.

Above, tourism has become a big industry in the wine regions in Australia.

NY Times
September 2, 2004
Australia's Wines Expanding Their Global Shelf Space
By JAMES BROOKE

POKOLBIN, Australia - Two tawny kangaroos bounded over the red volcanic soil of a hillside vineyard, where parallel lines of merlot grape vines rested dormant in the Southern Hemisphere winter.

The landscape at Mount Pleasant Estate had all the markings of New South Wales gentility. But in an estate office, Phillip Ryan, the chief winemaker for McWilliam's Wines, talked of his company's new distribution agreement with E.& J. Gallo Winery, making aggressive forecasts for the American market. "We plan to double, treble, quadruple sales over the foreseeable future," Mr. Ryan said.

California grape glut? Overvalued Australian dollar? No obstacle seems to slow the Australian wine industry. In 1980, Australia exported 2 percent of its wine and was barely known in the United States and Europe.

Today, Australia is the second-largest source of imported wine in the United States - having shipped $600 million worth last year - surpassed only by Italy. In British supermarkets recently, Australian wines have outsold French wines. Other strong markets are Canada, Germany and New Zealand. Australia is now the largest "New World" wine exporter, surpassing Argentina, Chile, South Africa and the United States.

"They got momentum with the price, then they got momentum with the quality," said Bill Pitts, a software engineer from Houston, savoring a 1999 Mount Pleasant Shiraz on the patio of the winery here, owned by McWilliam's.

From 1990 to 2003, Australia had a 29-fold increase in wine exports to the United States, its most important market. But just as Australia locked down nearly a quarter of the United States import market, growth seemed to stall. Overplanting in California led to sharp discounting, symbolized by Charles Shaw, a California wine sold for $1.99 and affectionately known as "Two-Buck Chuck." In February, Australia's dollar hit a seven-year high of 80 cents American.

Since then, the Australians have bounced back, determined to be a wine power. The profits of wine companies are creeping up, and export revenue is up to $900 million for the first half of 2004, a 10 percent increase over the period a year ago. By 2007, wine is expected to displace Australia's traditional exports of wheat, wool and beef as the country's top farm export.

The 2004 grape harvest, completed by May, is a record 1.8 million tons, almost 30 percent higher than last year. In the first half of the year, exports to the United States were up 41 percent over the period a year ago. Further growth is expected, in part because of a new United States-Australia free trade pact that will provide duty-free access for Australian wines, effective Jan. 1.

"About 95 percent of American liquor stores stock Australian shiraz," said Kevin McLintock, chief executive of McWilliam's. "But less than 5 percent of American restaurants have an Australian shiraz on their list. That's where we can grow."

In America, the California oversupply is easing.

The Foster's Group, the brewing giant that paid $1.5 billion for Beringer Wine Estate Holdings in 2000, predicts that the California grape harvest could drop as much as 20 percent this year.

American wineries increasingly see Australia as California West. In addition to Gallo's distribution agreements with McWilliam's, the Robert Mondavi Corporation has a partnership with Rosemount Estate, owned by Southcorp, Australia's largest winemaker and exporter.

One Australian advantage is much cheaper land than in California.

Geared to winning export markets through consistency, quality control and low costs, Australia spends more money than California on wine research and development.

Last month, at a technical conference in Melbourne, technicians unveiled a lentil-sized sensor chip that measures wind speed, light, humidity, soil moisture and leaf wetness. Receiving information by wireless, a winemaker can "dial up" the grapes he needs for a specific sugar level or taste. As a result, Australia is winning shelf space around the world.

"Australia has had a good profile in the U.S," said Jonathan Scott, general manager of the Australian Wine Export Council, an industry group. "There were the Sydney Olympic games. Politically we are allies. All that has an effect."

One major constraint is water. A drought reduced the 2003 crop, and winemakers are trying to ease the problem through drip irrigation and investment in water storage.

Last year, Constellation Brands of Fairport, N.Y., paid $1.4 billion for BRL Hardy Ltd., then Australia's largest winemaker. Constellation's wine unit is run from Adelaide and has an annual production of 70 million cases, compared with Gallo's 60 million. Stephen Millar, head of Constellation Wines, has predicted that Australia could eventually become the world's largest supplier of wine.

This year, Australia's grape crush of 1.8 million tons is expected to be 65 percent that of the United States.

But Old World oversupply and discounted sales are pressuring Australia. Since 1980, French wine consumption per capita has dropped in half. France, Italy and Spain, the world's three largest producers, face overproduction, with some vineyards going out of business and others discounting sharply.

Referring to Australian plantings, Mr. Scott of the export council said, "For the last three to four years, the new plantings have considerably slowed." But, he added, "we have not quite plateaued."

In 30 years, Australians have doubled their per capita consumption of wine, hitting 21 liters in 2002. And wine tourism has become a major industry, roughly $750 million a year in the nation's three major grape- growing states: South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

Here in the Hunter Valley two hours north of Sydney, Australia's largest city, there are tastings, golf courses, spas, balloon rides over the vineyards and a music program called Jazz in the Vines.

"I am really high on this experience," said Steve Lesem, a colleague of Mr. Pitt who was on a corporate retreat. On a tour with Hunter Vineyard Tours, he added: "This is less formal, less crowded than in the Napa Valley."

Touring the Mount Pleasant area by car, Greg West, the winery's sales manager, said the number of winery tasting rooms and restaurants had doubled in his 10 years here, to 180, while the number of hotel rooms had grown to 3,000, from 500. "In two years, there will be 5,000," he said.

"The winning formula has been a low price point, a cuddly Australian marsupial on the label and a name like Yellowtail or Jacob's Creek," said Scott Witt, a former New York investment banker who runs a wine storage business in Sydney.

French winemakers, in contrast, say their American sales have fallen, especially since tensions over the war in Iraq. Information Resources Inc., a Chicago market research company, reported that labels rated "most French" suffered disproportionately.

CULWULLA · September 3rd, 2004, 12:22 AM

lol, we have finest wines in the world!! shhhhhh
thats our little secret.

jacobsian · September 3rd, 2004, 03:35 AM

Screw keeping the secret, the Evil South Australian Wine Making Imperial Guard is going to rule the drunken masses, and we'll get filthy mother#$%^ing rich off everybody's addiction related misery!

***Bond James Bond*** · September 3rd, 2004, 04:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yob

Screw keeping the secret, the Evil South Australian Wine Making Imperial Guard is going to rule the drunken masses, and we'll get filthy mother#$%^ing rich off everybody's addiction related misery!

Now THAT'S what I like to hear!!

Screw the masses!! Capitalize on their weaknesses!! And GET RICH in doing so!!

NZer · September 3rd, 2004, 07:20 AM

Like Microsoft.........damn Seattle bastards !!!!

***Bond James Bond*** · September 3rd, 2004, 09:22 AM

^Well this is a battle Aussies could win.

If Aussies get all those Microsoft programmers drunk, they'll write shitty code and everyone's computers will start crashing. Once that starts happening, people will start to use other operating systems more and Windows less. So that will lead to Microsoft's downfall.

Oh, but wait . . . the programmers writing code for MacOS and Linux will all be drunk too, so they'll also write shitty code and their computers will start crashing too.

So maybe everyone will just stay with Windows. Oh well, at least I'll be drunk when my computer crashes, so maybe I won't really give a shit.

Tony P · September 3rd, 2004, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bond James Bond

^Well this is a battle Aussies could win.

If Aussies get all those Microsoft programmers drunk, they'll write shitty code and everyone's computers will start crashing.....

Well then, all evidence suggests to me that Microsoft programmers caught on to Australian wines at least a decade ago.

NZer · September 3rd, 2004, 11:01 AM

OH !!!

NZer · September 3rd, 2004, 11:03 AM

@ Bond: Do you work for a computor company ?

Homeroids · September 3rd, 2004, 11:53 AM

Umm, don't MS programmers already write shitty code? They're going to be real stuffed when they get pissed on the Aussie wines.

Jimmy James · September 3rd, 2004, 01:40 PM

Yes I am one of those who tried wine and liked it, it has definitely gone from being the stuffy rich drink to a must have in every house, I'm just going to walk to the fridge...

I've pulled out a bottle of Banrock Station Chardonnay, made in Kingston on Murray, Riverland - South Australia. Some of the profits go to Landcare! I think it only cost $8! Bloody bargain!

***Bond James Bond*** · September 3rd, 2004, 09:54 PM

NZer - no, I don't

But if MS already writes shitty code, it'll just get worse when they start getting drunk.

***Bond James Bond*** · September 3rd, 2004, 09:55 PM

BTW, speaking of wine, am I the only wine-drinker who can't get himself to like white wine? I love red wine, but no matter how hard I've tried, I just can't get myself to like white wine.

Tony P · September 4th, 2004, 02:09 AM

I used to really hate wine until one day my appreciation just 'clicked' , almost overnight, when I was about 24. Only white wine to start off with, the more the better, but it progressed to red wine and now I don't like white at all, unless it's really, really good white.

Nowadays you won't see me without a glass of red. My new logo is Bonum vinum laetificat cor hominis or "good wine gladdens a persons heart"

My parents are relieved too. They couldn't understand how 'one of their own' couldn't like the stuff considering they themselves were drinking from the age of 4. It was common in the village they grew up in for parents to water down their home made wine, add a bit of sugar and give it to kids, just like cordial!

Randwicked · September 4th, 2004, 05:36 AM

I like red, but white wine's been ruined for me by one too many unpleasant goon-bong incidents.

jacobsian · September 4th, 2004, 05:43 AM

The only experience I have with wine is "goon a fortune"

(think goon bags + hills hoist clothesline)

finn · September 4th, 2004, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bond James Bond

BTW, speaking of wine, am I the only wine-drinker who can't get himself to like white wine? I love red wine, but no matter how hard I've tried, I just can't get myself to like white wine.

That sounds like me...but in reverse! I love white wine, but no matter how hard I try I just can't get myself to like red wine! I honestly think it tastes like absolute shit, and makes me want to vomit.

Actually, it has made me vomit several times...my first experience with red wine was with bad bad cask claret...ugh...I don't want to think about this anymore.

***Bond James Bond*** · September 4th, 2004, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by finn

That sounds like me...but in reverse! I love white wine, but no matter how hard I try I just can't get myself to like red wine! I honestly think it tastes like absolute shit, and makes me want to vomit.

Actually, it has made me vomit several times...my first experience with red wine was with bad bad cask claret...ugh...I don't want to think about this anymore.

Hmmm interesting . . .

The main reason I don't like white wine is its too sweet. I think maybe if I found a reeeeeally dry white wine it would be OK. It's just that I haven't found one yet.

And when I say "dry" I mean DRY!

Blend · September 4th, 2004, 07:36 AM

good for the industry, but u wont see me drinking wine.

My only experiences have ended up in throwing up everywhere. Goon bags, drinking too much, damn!

and i cant bring myself to enjoy it!

finn · September 4th, 2004, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bond James Bond

Hmmm interesting . . .

The main reason I don't like white wine is its too sweet. I think maybe if I found a reeeeeally dry white wine it would be OK. It's just that I haven't found one yet.

And when I say "dry" I mean DRY!

Opposite again! I like a sweet white wine...my parents like dry white, particularly a good chardonnay or reisling, so I drink it a bit but it's not ever what I'd choose if I had to pay for it!

Lol, I guess we'll never be drinking buddies Bond!

September 2nd, 2004, 08:58 PM	#1
*Bond James Bond* Licence to kill. Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Apple Maggot Quarantine Area Posts: 6,994	Aus wines are trying to take over the world, and get everyone drunk Phillip Ryan, far left, and Greg West of McWilliams Wines plan to increase sales to America substantially. Above, tourism has become a big industry in the wine regions in Australia. NY Times September 2, 2004 Australia's Wines Expanding Their Global Shelf Space By JAMES BROOKE POKOLBIN, Australia - Two tawny kangaroos bounded over the red volcanic soil of a hillside vineyard, where parallel lines of merlot grape vines rested dormant in the Southern Hemisphere winter. The landscape at Mount Pleasant Estate had all the markings of New South Wales gentility. But in an estate office, Phillip Ryan, the chief winemaker for McWilliam's Wines, talked of his company's new distribution agreement with E.& J. Gallo Winery, making aggressive forecasts for the American market. "We plan to double, treble, quadruple sales over the foreseeable future," Mr. Ryan said. California grape glut? Overvalued Australian dollar? No obstacle seems to slow the Australian wine industry. In 1980, Australia exported 2 percent of its wine and was barely known in the United States and Europe. Today, Australia is the second-largest source of imported wine in the United States - having shipped $600 million worth last year - surpassed only by Italy. In British supermarkets recently, Australian wines have outsold French wines. Other strong markets are Canada, Germany and New Zealand. Australia is now the largest "New World" wine exporter, surpassing Argentina, Chile, South Africa and the United States. "They got momentum with the price, then they got momentum with the quality," said Bill Pitts, a software engineer from Houston, savoring a 1999 Mount Pleasant Shiraz on the patio of the winery here, owned by McWilliam's. From 1990 to 2003, Australia had a 29-fold increase in wine exports to the United States, its most important market. But just as Australia locked down nearly a quarter of the United States import market, growth seemed to stall. Overplanting in California led to sharp discounting, symbolized by Charles Shaw, a California wine sold for $1.99 and affectionately known as "Two-Buck Chuck." In February, Australia's dollar hit a seven-year high of 80 cents American. Since then, the Australians have bounced back, determined to be a wine power. The profits of wine companies are creeping up, and export revenue is up to $900 million for the first half of 2004, a 10 percent increase over the period a year ago. By 2007, wine is expected to displace Australia's traditional exports of wheat, wool and beef as the country's top farm export. The 2004 grape harvest, completed by May, is a record 1.8 million tons, almost 30 percent higher than last year. In the first half of the year, exports to the United States were up 41 percent over the period a year ago. Further growth is expected, in part because of a new United States-Australia free trade pact that will provide duty-free access for Australian wines, effective Jan. 1. "About 95 percent of American liquor stores stock Australian shiraz," said Kevin McLintock, chief executive of McWilliam's. "But less than 5 percent of American restaurants have an Australian shiraz on their list. That's where we can grow." In America, the California oversupply is easing. The Foster's Group, the brewing giant that paid $1.5 billion for Beringer Wine Estate Holdings in 2000, predicts that the California grape harvest could drop as much as 20 percent this year. American wineries increasingly see Australia as California West. In addition to Gallo's distribution agreements with McWilliam's, the Robert Mondavi Corporation has a partnership with Rosemount Estate, owned by Southcorp, Australia's largest winemaker and exporter. One Australian advantage is much cheaper land than in California. Geared to winning export markets through consistency, quality control and low costs, Australia spends more money than California on wine research and development. Last month, at a technical conference in Melbourne, technicians unveiled a lentil-sized sensor chip that measures wind speed, light, humidity, soil moisture and leaf wetness. Receiving information by wireless, a winemaker can "dial up" the grapes he needs for a specific sugar level or taste. As a result, Australia is winning shelf space around the world. "Australia has had a good profile in the U.S," said Jonathan Scott, general manager of the Australian Wine Export Council, an industry group. "There were the Sydney Olympic games. Politically we are allies. All that has an effect." One major constraint is water. A drought reduced the 2003 crop, and winemakers are trying to ease the problem through drip irrigation and investment in water storage. Last year, Constellation Brands of Fairport, N.Y., paid $1.4 billion for BRL Hardy Ltd., then Australia's largest winemaker. Constellation's wine unit is run from Adelaide and has an annual production of 70 million cases, compared with Gallo's 60 million. Stephen Millar, head of Constellation Wines, has predicted that Australia could eventually become the world's largest supplier of wine. This year, Australia's grape crush of 1.8 million tons is expected to be 65 percent that of the United States. But Old World oversupply and discounted sales are pressuring Australia. Since 1980, French wine consumption per capita has dropped in half. France, Italy and Spain, the world's three largest producers, face overproduction, with some vineyards going out of business and others discounting sharply. Referring to Australian plantings, Mr. Scott of the export council said, "For the last three to four years, the new plantings have considerably slowed." But, he added, "we have not quite plateaued." In 30 years, Australians have doubled their per capita consumption of wine, hitting 21 liters in 2002. And wine tourism has become a major industry, roughly $750 million a year in the nation's three major grape- growing states: South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Here in the Hunter Valley two hours north of Sydney, Australia's largest city, there are tastings, golf courses, spas, balloon rides over the vineyards and a music program called Jazz in the Vines. "I am really high on this experience," said Steve Lesem, a colleague of Mr. Pitt who was on a corporate retreat. On a tour with Hunter Vineyard Tours, he added: "This is less formal, less crowded than in the Napa Valley." Touring the Mount Pleasant area by car, Greg West, the winery's sales manager, said the number of winery tasting rooms and restaurants had doubled in his 10 years here, to 180, while the number of hotel rooms had grown to 3,000, from 500. "In two years, there will be 5,000," he said. "The winning formula has been a low price point, a cuddly Australian marsupial on the label and a name like Yellowtail or Jacob's Creek," said Scott Witt, a former New York investment banker who runs a wine storage business in Sydney. French winemakers, in contrast, say their American sales have fallen, especially since tensions over the war in Iraq. Information Resources Inc., a Chicago market research company, reported that labels rated "most French" suffered disproportionately. __________________ Please DO NOT "like" any of my posts or request "friend" status. I don't care if you like me, or my posts. Thank you. - If you do either of these more than once you will be put on my ignore list. Last edited by Bond James Bond; September 3rd, 2004 at 04:04 AM.

September 3rd, 2004, 12:22 AM	#2
CULWULLA Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 46,864 Likes (Received): 30	lol, we have finest wines in the world!! shhhhhh thats our little secret. __________________ Sydney Harbour Bridge -1932, Sydney Opera House- 1973, Sydney Tower- 1981, Crown Hotel- 2015..

September 3rd, 2004, 09:22 AM	#6
*Bond James Bond* Licence to kill. Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Apple Maggot Quarantine Area Posts: 6,994	^Well this is a battle Aussies could win. If Aussies get all those Microsoft programmers drunk, they'll write shitty code and everyone's computers will start crashing. Once that starts happening, people will start to use other operating systems more and Windows less. So that will lead to Microsoft's downfall. Oh, but wait . . . the programmers writing code for MacOS and Linux will all be drunk too, so they'll also write shitty code and their computers will start crashing too. So maybe everyone will just stay with Windows. Oh well, at least I'll be drunk when my computer crashes, so maybe I won't really give a shit. __________________ Please DO NOT "like" any of my posts or request "friend" status. I don't care if you like me, or my posts. Thank you. - If you do either of these more than once you will be put on my ignore list.

September 3rd, 2004, 01:40 PM	#11
Jimmy James I want to do you slowly Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Geelong Posts: 611 Likes (Received): 0	Yes I am one of those who tried wine and liked it, it has definitely gone from being the stuffy rich drink to a must have in every house, I'm just going to walk to the fridge... I've pulled out a bottle of Banrock Station Chardonnay, made in Kingston on Murray, Riverland - South Australia. Some of the profits go to Landcare! I think it only cost $8! Bloody bargain! __________________ http://televisionrave.blogspot.com/ Star Trek The Next Generation Episode Reviews http://televisionrant.blogspot.com/ Daily Australian Television Ratings

September 3rd, 2004, 09:54 PM	#12
*Bond James Bond* Licence to kill. Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Apple Maggot Quarantine Area Posts: 6,994	NZer - no, I don't But if MS already writes shitty code, it'll just get worse when they start getting drunk. __________________ Please DO NOT "like" any of my posts or request "friend" status. I don't care if you like me, or my posts. Thank you. - If you do either of these more than once you will be put on my ignore list.

September 3rd, 2004, 03:35 AM	#3
jacobsian Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Queanbeyan Posts: 724 Likes (Received): 0	Screw keeping the secret, the Evil South Australian Wine Making Imperial Guard is going to rule the drunken masses, and we'll get filthy mother#$%^ing rich off everybody's addiction related misery!

September 3rd, 2004, 07:20 AM	#5
NZer De-regulate them hours. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Perth Posts: 1,982 Likes (Received): 5	Like Microsoft.........damn Seattle bastards !!!!

September 3rd, 2004, 11:01 AM	#8
NZer De-regulate them hours. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Perth Posts: 1,982 Likes (Received): 5	OH !!!

September 3rd, 2004, 11:03 AM	#9
NZer De-regulate them hours. Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Perth Posts: 1,982 Likes (Received): 5	@ Bond: Do you work for a computor company ?

September 3rd, 2004, 09:55 PM	#13
*Bond James Bond* Licence to kill. Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Apple Maggot Quarantine Area Posts: 6,994	BTW, speaking of wine, am I the only wine-drinker who can't get himself to like white wine? I love red wine, but no matter how hard I've tried, I just can't get myself to like white wine. __________________ Please DO NOT "like" any of my posts or request "friend" status. I don't care if you like me, or my posts. Thank you. - If you do either of these more than once you will be put on my ignore list.

September 4th, 2004, 02:09 AM	#14
Tony P All the way with PJK Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 965 Likes (Received): 2	I used to really hate wine until one day my appreciation just 'clicked' , almost overnight, when I was about 24. Only white wine to start off with, the more the better, but it progressed to red wine and now I don't like white at all, unless it's really, really good white. Nowadays you won't see me without a glass of red. My new logo is Bonum vinum laetificat cor hominis or "good wine gladdens a persons heart" My parents are relieved too. They couldn't understand how 'one of their own' couldn't like the stuff considering they themselves were drinking from the age of 4. It was common in the village they grew up in for parents to water down their home made wine, add a bit of sugar and give it to kids, just like cordial!

September 4th, 2004, 05:36 AM	#15
Randwicked Яandwicked Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Austfailia Posts: 689 Likes (Received): 0	I like red, but white wine's been ruined for me by one too many unpleasant goon-bong incidents. __________________ Coming soon to TV: High Performance Vehicles : Low Performance Drivers

September 4th, 2004, 05:43 AM	#16
jacobsian Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Queanbeyan Posts: 724 Likes (Received): 0	The only experience I have with wine is "goon a fortune" (think goon bags + hills hoist clothesline)

September 4th, 2004, 07:36 AM	#19
Blend Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Brisbane Posts: 887 Likes (Received): 0	good for the industry, but u wont see me drinking wine. My only experiences have ended up in throwing up everywhere. Goon bags, drinking too much, damn! and i cant bring myself to enjoy it!

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