The 2025 Australian winegrape crush is estimated[1] to be 1.57 million tonnes, 160,000 tonnes (11 per cent) more than the 2024 crush but still 140,000 tonnes below the 10-year average of 1.71 million tonnes, according to the National Vintage Report 2025, released today by Wine Australia.
Figure 1: Crush of Australian winegrapes 2015–25
The 2025 crush was the third vintage in a row to be below the 10-year average (see Figure 1), suggesting that it was the result of deliberate strategic decisions on behalf of the grapegrowers and winemakers to restrict intake or production, as well as seasonal factors. While there were some weather events that affected crop potential, notably a severe frost in spring that devastated early-flowering white varieties particularly Chardonnay and Colombard across many regions and widespread dry conditions that led to reduced yields, overall a crush at least equal to the long-term average of 1.71 million tonnes should have been possible without active intervention, because the supply base (vineyard area) has not significantly reduced in the past five years.
A crush of 1.57 million tonnes is equivalent to around 1.1 billion litres of wine – the same as the amount of Australian wine sold in 2023–24[2]. While this suggests that the 2025 crush will not put additional pressure on inventories if sales remain roughly stable, the mix may not match demand in terms of the colour, variety and region split.
Reds back on top
Overall, the crush in 2025 was 155,569 tonnes larger than in the previous year. Reds accounted for 89 per cent of the increase (138,960 tonnes), with an increase of 20 per cent on the 2024 crush.
The increase in reds came both from the warm inland regions and the cool / temperate regions, with each up by a similar percentage, but the warm inland contributing a larger amount in tonnes (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Change in crush by colour and location in 2025
The increase in whites came entirely from the cool / temperate regions, which increased by 21,253 tonnes (a 16 per cent increase), while the white crush from the warm inland regions decreased by 4,644 tonnes (-1 per cent) due to the significant frost damage experienced in the warm inland regions.
Despite the year-on-year increases, both reds and whites were below their long-term average (by 9 per cent and 8 per cent respectively), with the red crush being the third-smallest since 2014 (the last two years being the smallest). The uneven result for reds and whites led to reds overtaking whites again, after briefly losing the majority share of the crush in 2024 (Figure 3). Whites returned to 47 per cent of the crush, in line with the 10-year average share.
Figure 3: Winegrape crush by colour 2015–2025
The estimated crush of warm inland reds increased by 20 per cent to 529,152 tonnes, 10 per cent below the 10-year average of 587,869 tonnes, while the average purchase value increased by 1 per cent to $293 per tonne.
The stock-to-sales ratio for reds was still significantly above average at the end of the 2023–24 financial year , while the Ciatti price for Australian red wine on the global bulk wine market has reduced in June 2025 compared with June 2024, so this additional crush is likely to suppress any upward price pressure on purchased grapes next season[3]. For many grapegrowers in these regions, the current purchase price would not be sufficient for production to be economically viable[4].
Warm inland whites decreased by 1 per cent to be 4 per cent below their 10-year average of 640,198 tonnes. While the stock-to-sales ratio for whites in Australia is slightly below the long-term average, demand on the global market as indicated by the Ciatti prices has dropped in the past two years, while export volumes of bulk white wine from Australia decreased by 9 per cent in the year ended March 2025, suggesting there is no shortfall of whites likely to put upward pressure on prices. However, the prices for whites across the inland regions are currently higher (at $400 per tonne) than for reds and increased by 6 per cent in 2025.
Sauvignon Blanc in particular may be moving into oversupply both globally and in Australia. The crush[5] of inland Sauvignon Blanc in 2025 increased by 39 per cent to 81,726 tonnes, which was also 39 per cent above the 10-year average (Figure 4). While the average value fell by just 1 per cent to $492 per tonne in 2025, it was 11 per cent below its peak of $555 per tonne in 2022.
Figure 4: Crush and average value of inland Sauvignon Blanc over time
Major varieties up except for Chardonnay
Nationally, Shiraz regained its position as the number one variety, increasing by 23 per cent. Most of the major reds increased, with Cabernet Sauvignon (up 40 per cent) and Pinot Noir (up 20 per cent) combining with the Shiraz to contribute 96 per cent of the total net increase.
Ruby Cabernet decreased by 32 per cent and dropped out of the top ten, replaced by Sangiovese (Figure 5), which squeaked in ahead of Tempranillo by just 49 tonnes.
Figure 5: Crush of top 10 red varieties in 2025 and year-on-year change
In terms of the whites, significant increases in Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris/Grigio partly offset a 13 per cent decline in Chardonnay, which remains the largest white variety despite its year-on-year decrease. Prosecco overtook Riesling to take seventh place, while Semillon had a big increase (up 16 per cent) which saw it jump from sixth place to fourth place overall (Figure 6).
Figure 6: rush of top 10 white varieties in 2025 and year-on-year change
In the top 10 overall, there were six whites and four reds. Pinot Gris/Grigio overtook Merlot for the first time, to take fifth position and give whites three of the top five positions for the first time.
The National Vintage report is available from www.wineaustralia.com/market-insights/national-vintage-report. Vintage survey statistics, including regional winegrape pricing, are available on Wine Australia’s Vintage Survey dashboard https://marketexplorer.wineaustralia.com/vintage-survey. The Grape Price Indicators dashboard https://marketexplorer.wineaustralia.com/grape-price-indicators for inland regions has also been updated with the latest data.