The Hardy Wine Company has announced a 363,550 tonne intake for the 2005 vintage, 336,000 tonnes of it coming from 1,400 contracted growers. The release says it represents “a significant commitment to growers in nearly all of Australia’s wine growing regions”, but that would really depend on whether the growers made a profit or not.

Spin is a wonderful thing – the release also stated in bold: “The largest annual grape crush in Australian history by any winery group.” Now it appears that oversupply is something to boast about. Boasting should be left until all that juice has been turned into wine and wine into cash returning a profit for both company and grape grower, encouraging them to do it all over again in 2006 and beyond.

Read more wine industry news on The Key Report website here.