GRAPE growers are toasting a top quality harvest and bumper production.
Murray Valley Winegrowers (MVW) said independent growers and winery-owned vineyards in the Murray-Darling and Swan Hill regions had produced a total of totalled 402,000 tonnes – up significantly on the 350,000 tonnes produced in 2019 and 2020.
It also said, in its annual wine grape crush report, just released, that the quality of grapes this year was “one of the best in over a decade”.
MVW said growers were collectively paid $129 million for the 260,000 tonnes they produced, up 3 per cent on 2020.
This year, grower tonnages increased by 11 per cent, being 260,065 tonnes (235,222 in 2020), while production in winery-owned vineyards went up by 23 per cent, producing 141,495 tonnes (115,221 in 2020).
The national wine grape crush was an estimated 2.03 million tonnes in 2021, the largest recorded – an increase of 31 per cent on 2020 production and 17 per cent above the 10-year average of 1.74 million tonnes.
MVW executive officer Paul Derrico said some red prices dropped off, mainly due to Chinese tariffs, but white prices continued to improve.
