Much is afoot in Australian wine at the present time. Here’s something of a summary. Petaluma chief Brian Croser is appealing the Geographical Indications Committee’s decision to exclude his company’s Sharefarmers Vineyard from the recently finalised Coonawarra region. Croser’s is one of around forty objections to the GIC’s determination. This issue looks like it will last forever. It might lead to Croser, who was awarded an Order of Australia in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours List, taking to court the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation. Croser is a recent past Chairman of the Winemakers Federation of Australia, so it could be worth watching. Early figures for the 2000 vintage suggest that for the first time, BRL Hardy has become Australia’s largest wine maker. This result has much to do with the reduced 2000 crop, which produced around 1.13 million tonnes against estimates of 1.3 million tonnes and the erratic nature of the way harvests were reduced from region to region. BRL Hardy continues to perform very well in the wine market and the share market. Not only is it the country’s highest valued pure wine stock, but is the highest valued stock of any company with significant wine investments. Its performance over the past volatile week for the wine share market has been substantially more stable than that of Southcorp. While it is no surprise to anybody who knows anything about the wine industry that this business is not infrequently affected by significant seasonal highs and lows, it would appear that many of the players on the investment market have no understanding about the way it operates. It would appear than many investors have wrongly rated the industry’s performance in exceptional years like 1998 and 1996 as being par for the course. They’d better look out. BRL Hardy has confirmed its full purchase of Nobilo’s, one of New Zealand’s larger wine producers. The erstwhile owners of this NZ company have long received worldwide promotion from one of New Zealand’s most distinguished and sportsmanlike golfers, without paying a zac for it. Is Frank Nobilo any relative? No way. Winepros is having a tough time on the share market. Having hit a low yesterday of 40 cents a share it recovered to 42 cents by close. A few weeks ago its price was above 60 cents. Observers of such issues are wondering where its revenue is coming from. For detailed analysis of these and other issues facing Australian wine, simply subscribe to Jeremy Oliver’s OnWine Report, using the button on the left of your screen.
