Peter Lehmann Wines managing director, Doug Lehmann, says the Australian wine industry must remove about 35,000 hectares of vineyard to balance supply with consumer demand.

Lehmann said the past year had seen the company experience its most difficult trading conditions since 1994 and one of the worst in its thirty year history.

Peter Lehmann Wines recorded total revenue of $52.6 million (down from $61.8 million in 2008) and an after tax profit of $5.7 million (down 40.3 percent from $9.6 million in 2008) for the year ended 30 June 2009.

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Tasmania has been touted as the 'most exciting wine area in Australia' by national industry group Wine Australia.

Representatives from the organisation recently toured the state and praised the high quality of Tasmania's cool climate wines.

They say Tasmania has escaped the effects of the wine glut on the mainland, because of its continual production of premium wines.

Paul Henry, the general manager of wine development with Wine Australia, says the secret to Tasmania's global success will be developing in a measured fashion.

"If it continues to progress in a measured, sensible and above all, sustainable pace, then I think the future's incredibly bright," he says.

"The opportunity for Tasmania to be recognised as a region really of cool climate excellence in a global sense. I think that's on the table too."

Source - http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201003/s2839467.htm

Women who are counting calories don't have to feel guilty about having that glass of wine with dinner.

A new U.S. study found women who didn't drink gained more weight over a 13-year period than women who enjoyed a daily glass or two of red wine. Lu Wang from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston lead the study, which surveyed about 19,220 healthy American women over the age of 39 who had a body mass index in the normal range.

Over 13 years, almost all the women gained weight, but 41.3% became overweight and 3.8% of become obese. Women who didn't drink any alcohol gained the most weight while women who drank red wine gained the least. Women who drank beer and spirits gained some weight, but not as much as those who abstained from drinking entirely.

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In California’s Napa Valley, producer of the most expensive U.S. wines, 2010 may be a vintage year for foreclosures as the industry is squeezed by falling land values and a consumer shift to cheaper brands.

As many as 10 wineries and vineyards in Napa will change hands in distressed sales or foreclosures this year and next, up from none in 2008, according to Silicon Valley Bank. In a bank survey of vintners, 7 percent called their finances “very weak” or “on life support.”

“We have 250 vintner clients saying this downturn is the worst in 20 years,” Bill Stevens, manager of the bank’s wine division in St. Helena, California, said in an interview. “Anybody who was late to the party won’t have staying power.

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