Tasmanian winemakers celebrate superior grape harvest

TASMANIAN winemakers are celebrating the fifth most valuable harvest of wine grapes in Australia for the season, according to Paul Smart, Wine Tasmania’s Viticulture and Winemaking office.

“Based on wine grapes harvested across the country’s 65 wine regions, Tasmania is the 13th largest by volume but the 5th most valuable, up from 10th most valuable in 2023, Mr Smart said.

“After four low-yielding seasons in Tasmania, a return to solid volumes has been very welcome alongside excellent quality and will help Tasmania satisfy the ever-increasing global demand for its wines.”

The 2024 vintage report showed that growers harvested the approximate equivalent of 14.5M bottles of wine from 16,805 tonnes, up 36% on the previous vintage report.

CEO of Wine Tasmania Sheralee Davies said the most recent season saw not only the volume of grapes increase but more importantly their quality.
“We’re still quite a small wine region and this year we represented about one per cent of the total wine grape harvest nationally, but we also represented over 6 per cent of the value,” she said.

“This is a really important aspect for us that we are really all about value rather than volume so it’s pleasing to see an increase in both yields and value.”

The new records come after grape growers dealt with a season of diverse challenges including drier than average conditions.
Despite this, the season supported good yields and resulted in an earlier and condensed vintage in 2024.

Yields averaged $3,674 per tonne across all varieties and styles (compared with $613 per tonne nationally), with the value of Tasmanian sparkling wine grapes up to $3,797/tonne.

From a market and availability perspective, Ms Davies said these results are positive to see after the four previous vintages of lower volumes.

“Before this we haven’t been able to satisfy the demand that exists with Tasmanian wine and so with a welcome return to improved quantities harvested this year, it means we can actually satisfy some of that pent up demand for Tasmanian wine,” she said.

“We know that our overall volumes will continue to vary because of the Tasmanian climate but we’re expecting over time that our quantity of wine grapes harvested, and wine produced, will increase,” Ms Davies said, adding that Tasmania is seeing growth in new vineyard plantings.

Looking ahead, Wine Tasmania aims for continued growth and global recognition for the state’s wine industry by hosting interstate wine trade representatives here in Tasmania which Ms Davies says has been very successful in promoting Tasmanian wines. 

“We do know that there’s a great deal of interest globally in our wines, so our focus is making sure we keep driving the profile and the awareness of Tasmanian wines as we know we’re going to see growth in vineyard area and wine production.”

“At the moment we’re only exporting 4-5 per cent of Tasmania’s wine internationally, so we certainly see that as an opportunity to grow and expand as we continue to move forward with Tasmanian wine production.”

“If we can continue to grow our profile and the demand for our wines then that’s good news for all Tasmanian wine producers.”