Life is a Cabernet: Australia’s Second

LIFE IS A CABERNET:

ANALYSING THE TRENDS FOR AUSTRALIA’S SECOND MOST PLANTED VARIETY

Cabernet sauvignon vines arrived in Australia in the mid-1800s and over the years it has become an essential part of Australian wine heritage, both in single variety wines and classic blends.

By Wine Australia Manager of Market Insights, Peter Bailey

ONE OF AUSTRALIAN WINE’S REMARKABLE SUCCESS STORIES

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2015 there were 24,862 hectares of cabernet sauvignon under vine in Australia, making it the second most planted variety in the country behind shiraz (38,893 hectares) and ahead of chardonnay (21,442 hectares). Globally, Australia is one of the world’s major producers of cabernet sauvignon, ranked fourth in plantings behind France (54,434 hectares), Chile (40,728 hectares) and the United States (34,788 hectares)*.

Cabernet sauvignon is planted in most of Australia’s wine-growing regions. Ten regions have more than 1,000 hectares under vine, accounting for just under threequarters of the total area.

According to Wine Australia’s National Vintage Survey 2017, 279,041 tonnes of cabernet sauvignon were crushed in 2017, up 8% on 2016. The national weighted average purchase price declined by 1% to $647 per tonne. There were mixed price movements among the key growing regions as well. The average price for cabernet increased for the Riverland, Murray Darling/Swan Hill, Barossa Valley, Margaret River and McLaren Vale, but declined for Coonawarra, Langhorne Creek, Riverina, Wrattonbully and Clare Valley.

In the 12 months ended March 2018, 15.4 million cases** of cabernet sauvignon wines were exported from Australia, up 20% on the year prior and just below the record of 15.8 million cases achieved in the 12 months ended February 2007. While the volume of exports increased, the average price also rose by 13% to $67.50 per case free on board.

Cabernet sauvignon is successful in Australia as a standalone single varietal wine and as a dominant feature in classic blends. This is reflected in the export figures. In the 12 months ended March 2017, six million cases of single variety cabernet sauvignon were exported, while 1.8 million cases featured cabernet as the dominant variety of a blend. The remainder were blends where cabernet was not the dominant blend. Single cabernet exports grew by 13.3 per cent, a slightly stronger rate than cabernet blends, up by 12.5 per cent.

Of the blends where cabernet was the dominant variety, just over half were cabernet/merlot blends and a third were cabernet/shiraz blends. Cabernet/merlot blends declined by 1%, while cabernet/ shiraz blends increased by 24%. Other blends to grow included cabernet/shiraz/ merlot, cabernet/merlot/petit verdot and cabernet/malbec.

SOURCES:

* Anderson, K. and N. Aryal, Database of Regional, National and Global Winegrape Bearing Areas by Variety, 2000 and 2010, Wine Economics Research Centre, University of Adelaide, December 2013, revised July 2014 ** Cases refers to nine-litre case equivalents