Wine

South Australia is the centre of the Australian wine industry and takes a lead role in growing wine grapes, manufacturing and blending wine, wine testing and wine bottling.

 The State’s exuberant wine sector has helped to position Australia as the largest New World wine exporter and fourth in the world after France, Italy and Spain.

South Australia is perfectly suited to wine production, with warm summer conditions and good soil conditions.¹

Investment and business opportunities exist in niche grape growing and winemaking, research and development of wine grape growing and new wine varieties, wine waste management, transport and logistics, land use planning, salinity management, wine-related tourism and services to the wine industry.

Output

• 519 million litres of wine produced in 2008-09, or 44% of Australia's total.²
• 747,592 tonnes of wine grapes produced in 2008-09, or 44% of Australia's production.²
• 73,531 hectares of vines to harvest in 2008-09, or 46% of Australia's planting.²
• $2.2 billion Gross Wine Revenue in 2008-09.³
  

Exports

• $1.4 billion wine exports in the year to December 2009, or 17% of State goods exports.⁴
• 448 million litres of wine exported in 2008-09, or 60% of Australia's total.²
• Key export markets are the UK, USA, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand and China.⁴
  

Employment

• The wine industry employed 10,800 people in South Australia in 2006, or 1.6% of the State's workforce.⁵

Workforce Information Service

Number of businesses

• 3,003 wine grape growers and 435 wine manufacturers at the end of 2006-07.⁶

Research and development

• South Australia is home to world-leading reserach and development institutions (Australian Wine Research Institute, Wine Innovation Cluster), Australia’s National Wine Centre and to  education programs in viticulture, wine science and wine business (TAFE, University of Adelaide and University of South Australia).

Geographic focus

South Australia's wineries are concentrated in four key locations:

• the south-east of South Australia - around Coonawarra;
• north of Adelaide - in the Barossa Valley and Clare Valley;
• in regions surrounding Adelaide - including the Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale; and
• the north-east of South Australia, in the Riverland.

Industry groups

Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation
Australian Wine Research Institute
Wine Innovation Cluster
Cooperative Centre for Viticulture
Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation
The Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology
Winemakers' Federation of Australia
Wine Grape Growers' Australia
Wine Industry Suppliers Australia
South Australian Wine Industry Association
Phylloxera and Grape Industry Board of South Australia
Winery Engineering Association

Case studies

Jacob’s Creek
Hardy Wine Company
Upper Murray Case Supplies

1. Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation

2. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Wine and Grape Industry, Catalogue 1329.0, www.abs.gov.au

3. Primary Industries and Resources SA, Wine Industry Scorecard, 2007-08, www.safoodcentre.com.au/scorecard/industry_scorecards/wine

4. Australian Bureau of Statistics, International Trade in Goods and Services, Catalogue 5368.0, spreadsheet 15a, 36d and unpublished, www.abs.gov.au

5. Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology, South Australian Wine Industry Employment Strategy: Workforce Profile (2006 Census Update), www.workforceinfoservice.sa.gov.au/industryinfo/profiles
  
6. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, Catalogue 8165.0, www.abs.gov.au