VICTORIA'S northwest could be headed for its lowest wine grape harvest in more than a decade, with yields significantly lower than last year.
Murray Valley Winegrowers chief executive officer Mike Stone said chardonnay grapes were down about 30 per cent and there were early signs that the main red varieties also would be lighter.
"Shiraz, merlot and cabernet sauvignon wouldn't normally be ready for harvesting until late February or early March but already some have reached maturity, which is an indication of reduced yields," he said.
The Murray Valley region of Victoria and NSW, which includes the Murray-Darling and Swan Hill wine regions, has produced more than 300,000 tonnes a year since 1999, peaking at 442,000 tonnes in 2005.
Mr Stone said it was possible the region's growers would harvest less than the 312,000 tonnes they recorded in 2003.
Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a nationwide decline in the area under vines, lower yields, a smaller crush and less wine produced in 2008-09.
Domestic and export sales of Australian wine rose, but the ABS said their value declined, and inventories of beverage wine remained stable at 1.9 billion litres.
Shiraz remains the most common variety, with 44,082ha, but new plantings are on the wane, while chardonnay vines are being torn out at the rate of more than 890ha a year, leaving 29,831ha in the ground.
Expected average contract prices for grapes grown in the Murray Valley also continue to freefall, with the latest estimates showing a drop of 38-67 per cent in the past two years.
The sobering figures were delivered at the annual general meeting of the Swan Hill Wine Region Grape Growers Association, which has virtually been in recess, holding no meetings since last February.
Mr Stone said the biggest price drops in the region had been felt in chardonnay (down 67 per cent to $175 a tonne), pinot gris (63 per cent to $316 a tonne) and colombard (61 per cent to $166 a tonne) during the past two years.
Mr Stone said pinot-gris prices were expected to take the biggest hit this year, with a 48 per cent drop on the average contract price for 2008-09, when plantings almost doubled. "People have scrambled to get those varieties (pinot gris and sauvignon blanc) in and now we have too much," he said.
Mr Stone said the ABS report was not entirely accurate and could not be directly compared with previous reports, because it was based on a survey not a census, which is to be undertaken this year.
But he said it was worth noting that only 13 winemakers crushed 20,000 tonnes or more of grapes, averaging 98,000 tonnes each and accounting for almost 73 per cent to the total vintage, which gave "a bit of an indication why growers are held to ransom so often".
