While Australian table wine sales this January were one percent down from the previous year, the moving annual total to the month ending January 2002 was actually up by 1.7%. Many factors could be at play here, but I reckon the most important is the weather. Those readers who choose to live far from the shores of Terra Australis might find it hard to believe that despite an early summer so intense as to fuel some of the worst bushfires in Australian history, for much of the southern half of the country summer has only flickered briefly and intermittently upon our radar screens. From my desk in Hawthorn I reckon I can hear the cries of anguish from hundreds of retailers as I look outwards and upwards to still more cloudy skies. ‘Year-on-year we continue to grow, and year-on-year we think that maybe the growth rate will reduce, but year-on-year that doesn’t happen’, said Christian Porta, chief executive of Orlando Wyndham, the French-owned wine company that owns Jacob’s Creek. Seeking double-digit growth in the UK for Jacob’s Creek in 2002, Porta is counting on sparkling wines to drive up sales beyond the 5.3 million case mark set in 2001.Given that it is still a small player in a number of important overseas markets, Porta is confident about the future of Australian wine exports.
