Oz Wine Facts– Durif Wines
December 08, 2017
A red grape variety, Durif was named after the 19th century French botanist Francois Durif, who maintained a nursery full of distinct grape varieties at his home in Tullins. Two of these varieties – Syrah and Peloursin, cross pollinated at some point, giving birth to the Durif grape.
Although it is almost nonexistent in France today, Durif is widely cultivated in California & Australia. Below are some statistics that show the growth & export of the Durif variety in Australia in the year 2016 –
(source: Wine Australia)Viticulture
Aussie vintners covered about 135,000 ha of land with distinct grape varieties, of which 3,000 ha were not a part of the bearing area. The growth & cultivation of Durif grapes can be approximated to 620 ha of vineyard land, with 540 ha falling under the ‘Bearing Area’ category.
Grape Production
In 2016, Aussie wineries crushed close to 1,608,000 tonnes of grapes. The harvest and crushing of the Durif variety amounted to about 6200 tonnes, 5300 tonnes of which were grown in warm inland regions, while the remaining 1000 tonnes were harvested in cool climate wine regions of Australia.
Approximately 75% of the total share was nurtured in the Riverina wine region alone. The rest of the grapes were sourced from various other districts like Riverland (4%), Rutherglen and Murray Darling in Victoria (3% each), & Barossa Valley (2%).
(source: Wine Australia)Export Data
In 2016, 1.61 million litres of Durif wines were exported to various countries around the world. This is a hike of more than 10% on the previous year, which is commendable.
The United Kingdom took the top spot, importing 71% of the magnificent Durif crafted in Australia! This was followed by USA, where 10% of the exports were shipped to. Sweden imported close to 9%, while Canada and China imported 3% each of the total wine share.
Keeping in consideration the price points, the majority of Durif wines sold, lay in the price range of AUD 2.50/L to AUD 4.99/L (about 89%). Wines in the range of AUD 5/L to AUD 7.49/L have an estimated share of 5%. 3% wines lie in the price bracket of AUD 10/L to AUD 19.99/L. Wines lying in the ranges of AUD 20/L and above, AUD 7.50/L to AUD 9.99/L, as well as AUD 2.49/L and under, sold the least (2%, 1% and 1% respectively).
