Winetitles, publishers of the Australian & New Zealand Wine Industry Directory, claim that a new Australian wine producer opens for business every 72 hours. Their figures reveal that in 2000 the Australian wine industry gained by an extra 121 producers, up by 10% from 1999, with the total number of makers now standing at 1,318. ‘About three quarters of these new producers crush less than 100 tonnes and 78% of the total number of producers crush less than 250 tonnes’, says Michael Major, Wine Industry Directory editor. With the exception of Tasmania, all States showed an increase in number of producers listed. This year’s edition also highlights that 43% of all Australian wine producers export their wine, that 1,027 wine producers have a cellar door sales outlet, and that wine is made on site by 824 producers.
