AWBC says national grape harvest at seven year low

Australia's wine grape harvest is expected to be the lowest in seven years, according to fresh figures released by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation.

The AWBC said it expected the national harvest to come in at 1.34 million tonnes, slightly lower than the 1.35 million tonnes it predicted in February.

The Corporation said the average yield, or tonne of grapes per hectare, was the lowest in 30 years after a range of weather conditions including drought and frost took their toll on grape vines.

It said red varieties were more affected than whites with red yields down 39 per cent compared to a fall of 20 per cent for white varieties.

The smaller national crush has provided a boost for Western Australian grape growers.

While WA crops were also smaller this year many WA growers coming into vintage without grape contracts were able to sell their fruit to east-coast producers after signs of a big national shortfall emerged.

The AWBC estimate was based on a survey of wine companies, which account for about 85 per cent of the industry's grape crush.