Among the questions that continue to be asked by the wine-drinking and wine-selling American, none is more perplexing than “What has happened to the Australian wine industry?” Once the darling of American consumers, the declining sales and even the bankruptcy of several Australian importers, continue to confound the market. Will Australia rebound on our shores, or is the category deader than disco?
What the bloody hell happened?
The collapse of the economy certainly has not helped, but let’s face it, the financial woes of the banking industry was not limited to OZ. I contend that many American wine merchants and restaurant buyers simply tired of the now iconic labels, referred to as “critter” wines (kangaroo this, koala that). Some suggest it was due to the flooding of the American market with these types of wines—the mass-produced, value-oriented brands from Southeastern Australia; and that it was the lack of focus on historic and artisanal producers from specific locations and appellations that hurt sales here. There may be a refocused energy in the U.S. from these wineries, extolling the virtues of terroir-driven, handmade wines of historic, geographic, viticultural and oenological relevance.
Additionally, the deemphasizing of Aboriginal words and names on winery labels (aside from geological and municipal location) could help redefine the industry as well. While Woop Woop (slang for “the middle of nowhere”) is fun to say, serious consumers have turned their backs on cute and irrelevant nomenclature. What they are seeking now is a sense of “someplaceness’ versus languishing in “nowhereness”.
The wine media has played into the decline in American consumption of Aussie wines as well, bestowing high ratings and celebrating their virtues of wines with descriptions like "hedonistic gobs of fruit." The American wine drinker has shifted and Aussie wines that were once were popular here for their rich, ripe and over the top extraction and alcohol levels have yielded to a consumer looking for more subtle, nuanced wine.
Additionally, it should be noted that Australian marketers focused most of their attention on the export market, perhaps not fully recognizing the fickleness of the American consumer and our willingness to move on to the “next big thing.” Yes, when they were hot they were hot, and wines like Yellowtail and Little Penguin had a nice run, but now it appears that continued growth here is unlikely and that the Aussies miscalculated.
Conversely, Argentina has seen tremendous growth on the world market, primarily in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, yet enjoys tremendous sales among the Argentine population. As one famous Winemaker from Argentina told me nearly a decade ago, ”You will see “Gaucho this” and” Evita that” sold in the United States the same way importers used Australian symbols to flood and confuse the marketplace, but it will be the real family estates that will remain in the forefront. That will be the most distinctive difference.”
Maybe the question isn’t “what has happened to the Australian wine industry?” but rather, “will it have a boomerang effect and return as a dominant player in the States?”
