Millions of vines are being destroyed in Australia and tens of millions more must be pulled up to rein¹ in overproduction that has crushed grape prices and threatens the livelihoods² of growers and wine makers³.

Falling consumption of wine worldwide has hit Australia particularly hard as demand shrinks fastest for the cheaper reds that are its biggest product.

The world’s fifth largest exporter of wine had more than two billion litres, or about two years’ worth of production, in storage in mid-2023, the most recent figures show, and some is spoiling as owners rush to dispose of it at any price.

About two-thirds of Australia’s wine grapes are grown in irrigated⁴ inland areas such as Griffith, its landscape shaped by vine-growing techniques brought by Italian migrants arriving around the 1950s.

Red wine has suffered the most. In regions like Griffith, prices of the grapes going into it fell to an average of A$304 a tonne last year, the lowest in decades and down from A$659 in 2020, data from industry body Wine Australia show.