Shiraz hits dry patch as wine drinkers opt for sweeter whites like moscato
An oversupply of shiraz grapes and young drinkers trending towards lighter whites are putting the number one grape variety grown in Australia in a "diabolical situation".
The world's oldest continuously productive shiraz vines were planted in the Barossa Valley in 1843.
But despite the long history, drinkers are falling out of love with the heavy reds, prompting wine makers to pull out hectares of vines.
The managing director of De Bortoli Wines, Darren De Bortoli, said consumers were moving away from reds in favour of whites.
"Shiraz is in a diabolical situation at the moment," Mr De Bortoli said.
According to the 2024 Wine Australia national vintage report, the shiraz crush dropped to its lowest levels since 2007.
It's a far cry from Australia's record shiraz crush of 535,000 tonnes in 2021, with just 297,868 tonnes crushed last year.
De Bortoli has vineyards in several wine regions, including the Hunter Valley, King Valley, Rutherglen, Heathcote, and the Riverina.
Over the past two years, they have removed 130 hectares of red wine varieties in Rutherglen and the Riverina.
Mr De Bortoli said there was a range of factors at play.
"Leading up to COVID, the demand from China was exceptionally strong and a lot of new vineyards went in," Mr De Bortoli said.
"Then we had an altercation between our prime minister and the Chinese government and were effectively banned from sales into China."
He said that had now been resolved, but demand had not returned to the same levels.
"Additionally, we've seen an anti-alcohol theme as well," he said.
Data by the International Wine and Spirit Record shows drinkers aged 18–39 years old were more likely to choose wines described as sweet, delicate, soft and simple.
The demographic also preferred low-alcohol options and were reducing the amount they drank.
One such wine is moscato, an industry quiet achiever that is low alcohol and sweet.
Katherine Brown is a fourth-generation family winemaker at Brown Brothers in Milawa, Victoria. She said moscato, which is made from muscat grape varieties, had grown to become their biggest product.
"We released our first moscato about 35 years ago, and at the time it felt like the wine industry was having a laugh at us," Ms Brown said.
Out of the 14,000 tonnes of fruit Brown Brothers produced in their 2025 vintage, 40 per cent will go towards making 20 different moscato-based products.
"We have a theory that the next generation doesn't want to be seen drinking what their parents drank," Ms Brown said.
"Crouchen riesling is a sweet white wine, but it's now old-fashioned."
Ms Brown said prosecco had been the other big performer.
"I've never seen growth like that before."
Zero-alcohol wines were also increasing in popularity across all generations.
"Gen Z is not going out as much, and we're seeing the baby boomers who are asked to drink less for their health," Ms Brown said.
"I think there are big pressures on people at the moment about not drinking."
Brown Brothers had also seen a decline in demand for red wine varieties, however, Ms Brown noted that wines came in and out of fashion.
"Yes, there's a decline in red wine, but red wine grapes also make rosé, which is growing in popularity," she said.
"This issue is not new. My grandfather was doing this over 60 years ago, when there was a pivot point and it was mostly red wine production.
Mr De Bortoli said he was confident gen Z would discover wine as they aged.
"It's definitely a demographic the wine industry is missing out on," he said.
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