The crush was down 300 000 tonnes (19 per cent) compared with 2025, and 25 per cent below its 10-year average of 1.69 million tonnes. This indicates the significant adjustment currently underway across the Australian wine sector.
Smaller crush driven by global decline in wine consumption
While seasonal conditions created significant challenges during the 2026 vintage, the scale of the decline suggests that market forces were the primary driver of the reduced crush. Four of the past five Australian vintages have been below the long-term average, with the five-year average (2021–2025) falling to 1.61 million tonnes – 84,000 tonnes below the 10-year average.
This sustained reduction in production reflects the industry's response to a decade-long decline in global wine consumption. According to the OIV1, worldwide wine consumption has fallen by 14 per cent since 2017, representing a reduction of around 40 billion litres. Global consumption is now estimated to have returned to levels last seen in 1961, despite the world's population growing from approximately 3 billion to 8.2 billion people over the same period.
Australia was largely shielded from these underlying trends during the temporary surge in China's imported wine demand. However, that period masked broader structural shifts in consumer behaviour, which have since been amplified by cost-of-living pressures and global trade disruptions. As these factors have intensified, Australia and other wine-producing nations have been forced to adjust production levels in line with softer demand and changing market conditions.
Global shift from red to white reflected in crush figures
Overall, the 2026 crush was 306,334 tonnes smaller than 2025, with red varieties accounting for 80 per cent of the decrease. The crush of red grapes was down by 243,560 tonnes (29 per cent) year-on-year, to be the smallest red crush since 2000.
Conversely, the crush of white grapes declined by a more modest 9 per cent, resulting in a big jump in white’s share of the total crush – up six percentage points to 53 per cent. This is only the second time in the past 12 years that whites have accounted for the majority of the crush.
The changing composition of the crush aligns with broader global consumption trends. According to IWSR data, demand for red wine has weakened significantly faster than demand for white wine since 2017. Global consumption of red wine is now almost 450 million cases below 2017 levels, compared with a decline of 119 million cases for white wine over the same.
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