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The Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference is owned and conducted by the Australian wine industry. The conference is held on a triennial basis for the benefit of the Australian wine and grape industry, and is an important contributor to this industry's excellence and competitive advantage. For more information visit the website www.awitc.com.au

Vintage 2013 appears to have been very good with warm and dry growing conditions consistent throughout the season extending through to mid-April – ideal conditions for all varieties.
After good winter rains, the dams were full laying the foundation for a great start to the growing season. October was the beginning of a long, warm and dry summer. Two good rain events in February and March were much needed to see the vines through their ripening process. The warm, dry weather continued through to early Autumn providing excellent conditions for the later ripening varieties such as Shiraz and Cabernet sauvignon. Overall, crops were down between 10% and 20% primarily due to smaller berries and lighter bunch weights. While yields were slightly down the wines are showing full concentrated flavours with terrific colour density. All varieties appear to have performed well but the stand outs at the moment are Pinot noir, Shiraz and Chardonnay.

China has been the fastest growing export market for Australian wine in recent years, and is now the third largest destination for bottled exports. In the 12 months to the end of March 2012, the value of bottled exports increased by 37% to AUD$192 million, the volume by 28% to 31 million litres, and the average value by 7% to AUD$6.11 per litre. Significantly, exports priced at over AUD$7.50 per litre rose 47% to AUD$84 million, putting China in first place in this category. Australian wine is now the second largest imported wine in China, with a 14% market share in value and 13% in volume.

For the most part consumers in China still have limited knowledge about wine, and invariably are drawn to French wine when making purchases, particularly of premium wine. This makes education very important, to trade, media and consumers.
This makes education very important, to trade, media and consumers. Consumers in first tier cities have more wine knowledge than those in second tier cities. They have a wider selection available and thus more chance to taste wines from all over the world. However, it is more and more obvious that the great potential lies in second tier cities, where consumers have increasing disposable income and are eager to learn how to appreciate wine.

Rabobank's latest quarterly for three months to October says a massive global oversupply of wine between 2004-2010, that depressed prices and led many growers to rip up vines, looks like coming to an end. The good news for Australian growers is that conditions in south east Australia have been favourable so far and good yields are predicted for the upcoming 2013 harvest. Grape prices have posted their first significant increase since 2008.

Gary Baldwin has joined the Finlaysons Wine Roadshow for 2012 to assist in presenting a series of seminars covering the topics of Managing difficult vintages. The roadshow will address many including risk allocation between grower and winemaker, what can be done in the vineyard and winery to ameliorate the effects of a bad vintage and also dispute resolution surrounding fruit assessment, grading and/ or rejection. The series of shows are hosted in many wine regions of Australia so go to the website www.wineroadshow.com.au to find out more.