ONE of Australia's largest wine producers, Brown Family Wine Group (BFWG) at Milawa, welcomed talks between Australia and China which could end the latter's crippling tariffs on Australian wine.
The first visit to Beijing by an Australian prime minister in more than seven years, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in early November in the hope of dismantling the last major trade sanction against Australian exporters.
China has agreed to a five-month review of the punitive wine tariffs.
BFWG CEO Dean Carroll, based at the Milawa winery, said it's an encouraging announcement that gives hope that recommencement of trade with China may be on the horizon for a challenged wine industry.
"We would welcome a quicker resolution than five months, but understand it’s a sensitive process and we appreciate the government's effort in getting to this point," Mr Carroll said.
Beijing imposed trade sanctions on $20 billion worth of Australian export products during an unsettled trade period in 2020.
China claimed the duties were to stop dumping, and with wine tariffs up to 218.4 per cent costing the Australian wine industry $1 billion per annum since from a 130 million-litre shortfall.
Earlier this year talks recommenced with the Australian and Chinese governments that would create a pathway towards resolving the dispute over Australian barley, and Trade Minister Don Farrell was confident in a favourable outcome for Australian wine as well.
At the time BFWG executive director Ross Brown said "it's critical" the agreement goes through to sustain the health and growth of the industry.
"China was our largest export market and to suddenly lose this overnight...it takes many years to build these markets," Mr Brown said.
"You don't suddenly turn the switch and get a new market, certainly not as diversified as China."
During the trade sanctions other Asian markets continued to support Brown Brothers wines including South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, growing conditions last season due to a third La Nina event caused a decline in yield, with the 2023 winegrape vintage estimated to be 1.32 million tonnes or 26 per cent below the 10-year average - equivalent to about 325 million litres of wine - and the lowest recorded since 2000.
The total estimated value of the 2023 crush at the weighbridge was $983 million, a decrease of $229 million (19 per cent) compared with 2022.
Wine Australia manager of market insights, Peter Bailey, said this smaller vintage, which will reduce the wine available for sale by around 325 million litres, is likely to have a considerable impact on the bottom line of grape and wine businesses all around Australia, at a time when the costs of inputs, energy, labour and transport have increased significantly.