Photo: Global wine consumption has remained essentially the same as it was in 1961, the year 113,000 units of the iconic EK Holden were sold, despite the population more than doubling.
By Meg Riley
On Friday last week, Wine Australia presented its Global Market Update 2025 at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide, to a crowd of grape and wine industry professionals. It covered a lot of ground.
In his opening address, Wine Australia’s CEO Dr Martin Cole acknowledged that sector was in need of a reset, but reassured the crowd that responding to “consumer challenges” didn’t mean giving up on the aspects of wine that they all loved. “Let’s walk and chew gum at the same time,” said Dr Cole.
With the recent trade launch of the “We make a wine for that” campaign, the event had an understandable focus on growing the consumption of Australian wine within the Australian market.
To provide insights into the current state of play in the domestic market, Endeavour Group (the largest wine retailer in Australia and owner of Dan Murphy’s, BWS, and producing arm Pinnacle Drinks), shared detailed data insights on consumer preferences and patterns, the full extent of which is set to be published on Wine Australia’s website as part of Endeavour’s limited edition report: State of the Grapes.
Wine Australia’s general manager of marketing, Paul Turale, provided some context on the current geopolitical environment in Australia and around the globe, referencing the “anti-alcohol and prohibitionist lobby” among other factors such as the pandemic and cost-of-living stressors.
“From a Wine Australia—and I think more generally—from an industry perspective, [it is] incredibly difficult to engage on the science, whatever side of the fence you’re on, given our perceived conflict.”
Photo: One of the greatest threats to the global wine market is pressure from anti-alcohol and prohibitionist lobbies.
Turale used the image of an iconic Australian car—an EK Holden—to illustrate current circumstances in the wine industry.
“In 1961 Holden sold just shy of 113,000 units of these,” Turale explained. But that was not his main point. “Way back in 1961, the amount of wine that was consumed globally is equivalent to the amount of wine that was consumed globally in 2024,” he said. “And there’s over two and a half times more population around the world.”
Despite this, Turale said there are still opportunities for Australian wine, and that “those opportunities remain significant”.
However, he cautioned, yesterday’s rules may no longer apply.
“We keep asking ourselves two key questions: first, how do we get drinkers in Australian wine to consider it more regularly for more occasions? And the second question, can we engage and grow consumers—be it here in Australia or around the world—who are not drinking Australian wine, to consider it in future? I think if we can find answers to those two questions, we’ll be on track across the future.”
The first step to answering these questions is examining who is currently buying Australian wine, where and why they are buying it, and, crucially, what occasions they are buying it for. To answer this, Tim Carroll, director of merchandise and buying at Endeavour, took the stage.
“Ultimately, customers choices will determine the trajectory of Australian domestic wine,” said Carroll. “We believe data insights can play a very important role in helping suppliers—and you all—to navigate the ever-evolving customer changes and their choices.”
“The more we promote the conversation about the Australian wine industry, the greater chance we have [of] helping Australian consumers find their next favourite Australian-made wine.”
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