Chardonnay overtakes Shiraz as the largest crushed Grape in Australia
July 10: According to the National Vintage Report 2024 released yesterday by Wine Australia, Chardonnay has become the biggest grape variety, replacing Shiraz that has been considered the leading and a signature Australian grape since 2013, writes Subhash Arora
Ask any Indian or most wine lovers in the world about the largest produced varietal in Australia and you would hear Shiraz. And they would be right. But this year’s crop (Australia being in the Southern Hemisphere harvests wine grapes in February-May; India follows the same cycle despite being in the Northern Hemisphere) puts on top Chardonnay which used to be the biggest variety till 2013 when Shiraz overtook perhaps because of a surge in demand for red wine and more particularly Shiraz which has been gaining popularity ever since the 1990’s.
Chardonnay had the largest crush with 332,643 tons in 2024, and overtook Shiraz to resume the title of top variety by crush size in 2013. Shiraz declined by 14% to 297,868 tons, its smallest crush since 2007 and 31% below its 10-year average of 430,903 tons.
Overall decline in red wines
The crush of red varieties in 2024 declined by 1% to an estimated 705,489 tons. This is 24 % below the 10-year average and the smallest crush of red varieties since 2007. The crush of white varieties was up by 19 % to 721,519 tons, but still 10 % below its 10-year average of 804,854 tons and the second-smallest since 2007. The share of the crush increased to 51 % – the first time since 2014 that the white crush has been higher than the red crush.
The total wine grape crush in 2024 is estimated to be 1.43 million tons, 112 tons (9 %) more than the crush of 1.31 million tons in 2023. The 2024 crush is 18 % below the 10-year average of 1.73 million tons, according to the National Vintage Report 2024.
In Australia 94 % of the grapes crushed are from 20 varieties only, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon being more than a third. But wine grape growers are gradually moving away from Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon due to global red wine oversupply. The planting of lighter reds and whites is also on the rise because of growers’ effort to offer something new to the young consumers who are willing to explore. There has also been an oversupply of red wines because of Chinese barriers which were lifted recently but the demand is expected to rise more slowly than before as their wine industry is also in doldrums.
Wine Australia’s annual Vintage Report is produced on behalf of the wine sector based on survey data collected across all winegrowing regions in Australia. It provides an estimate of the total crush in Australia, a summary of the grape crush in each region by variety. For details, visit https://www.wineaustralia.com
So next time you hold a glass of Penfolds Grange Shiraz or a Yellow Tails Shiraz, remember it is not the biggest grown grape but the Burgundian grape Chardonnay that now leads the grape variety production in Australia.