Tuesday, 03/01/2006
Thousands of hectares of grape vines could be pulled out after this year's Australian vintage, to help combat the surplus of wine on the market.
The Wine Grape Growers Australia and the Winemakers Federation are proposing a 'vine retirement scheme' to remove the less popular varieties, such as cabernet.
Grape Growers chairman, Paul Clancy, says industry is meeting with the Federal Government next month to ask for a loan.
"The wine industry doesn't really favour government interference in its business and we're not asking for government handout and perhaps one of the ideas tossed around the government may be able to put up the funds up front to fund a retirement scheme and the industry pays it back overtime," he said.
The vine-pull is only one of the strategies being proposed by industry to government to solve the surplus.
The glut of world-wide wine is obviously low-end bulk grape juice. There is not enough quality wines being produced IMO around the world otherwise the prices wouldn't keep sky rocketing on the good labels.
Once the RoP takes over France, the vines will come out of the ground there, too...Sharia Law says wine is a no-no.
I have another answer to the global wine surplus and glut. Lower the prices on a lot of the overpriced, pretentious plonk and watch the wine walk out of the stores.