Sacre bleu, the French know how to market their wine.
The federal government should look to France's Bordeaux region for inspiration to build an international wine brand, as the Australian industry deals with a complex crisis, an independent report suggests.
Australia has a massive red wine glut, driven by factors including China's former tariffs, the COVID-19 pandemic, the wars in the Ukraine and Gaza, along with decreased wine consumption.
A winery in South Australia's Riverland went into voluntary administration in February, with $25 million in debts and five million litres in unsold bulk wine.
The nation's wine-growing reputation could be enlivened with a significant boost to marketing funded by industry levies and the government, according to a report by economist Professor Kym Anderson.
The report, commissioned for an industry working group and made public after a meeting of the nation's agriculture ministers, showed the Bordeaux region spends nearly $50 million on marketing.
France's famed growing region is equivalent to Australia's in geography, but has a marketing budget almost ten times the size.
"While not diminishing the industry’s challenges in the face of global warming and wine consumers drinking less and going up-market, a refreshed focus and a more positive vision for the industry is long overdue," Prof Anderson wrote.
"It is not inconceivable that Australia, like New Zealand, could capture a bigger share of the world market, through boosting its generic and firm marketing efforts and investments in innovation."
But increased marketing would not help growers with "the immediate problem of needing to empty tanks ready for the next vintage", the report said.
Some in the industry believe the government should help fund the disposal of wine, as the glut was worsened by China's tariffs from December 2020 to March this year.
Other suggestions include a subsidy to support winemakers remove red wine grape vines and replace them with white, or to sell the lowest quality stocks to be distilled for industrial alcohol.
The report also recommended streamlining a complex web of industry levies.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said bottled wine exports to China bounced back in May, recording the fourth highest monthly figure since 2019.
More than 9.8 million litres was exported, valued at $142 million, the majority of which came from SA.
"We know the past few years have been incredibly tough for Australia’s wine sector," Senator Watt said on Monday.
"So to see these figures come through is just fantastic news for the whole industry."
The meeting of the national agriculture ministers in Brisbane on Thursday also made note of the federal government's $3.5 million wine sector sustainability package announced last month.
