When Doug McWilliam studied winemaking, he had to move to the United States for the privilege.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Now there are a large number of universities in Australia that offer the course.
The anecdote tells much about how the wine industry - and Australia – has changed over the decades.
“McWilliam’s has really grown up with Griffith,” Mr McWilliam said.
“And I think Griffith has put itself on the map very successfully, particularly with the changeover from fortified wine to table wine.”
Mr McWilliam said it was in the 60s when Griffith starting turning heads – the city’s wines started to clean up the gold medalsand business was booming.
“They started to say ‘maybe in the MIA they are more than just fortified winemakers’,” he said.
“They were making premium table wines.”
The recently retired chairman of the iconic McWilliam’s Wines has seen many changes in the industry.
From the introduction of refrigeration to the gradual swtichover from fortified wine to table wine, milestones were emerging.
As the achievements were racked up, the city of Griffith was there to benefit.
The industry took off in the `90s and early 2000s.
“Everywhere around the world jumped on the Australian wine bandwagon,” he said.
“We were pumping heaps and heaps of wine.”
But the industry faces a “massive” problem of overproduction into the future.
“Australia is probably producing 20 per cent more grapes than it actually needs," Mr McWilliam said.
“It’s probably the biggest challenge for the industry to get exports up and going.”
The value of Australian wine has dropped dramatically.
About five years ago, the country was exporting nearly $3 billion worth of wine. Australia now exports about $1.8 billion of the same volume of wine.
"What we’re selling overseas now is basically at cost,” Mr McWilliam said.
“We’re just keeping the industry ticking over.”
Mr McWilliam believes it is one of the issues that the industry has to tackle, with its impact on Griffith being profound. The value of the wine industry to Griffith is about $100 million.
As the city nears its centenary, Mr McWilliam said the key to future strength is to show the world what Griffith has.
Hinging on that future, Mr McWilliam said, is to resolve the water issue and overproduction.
“If this area gets further on its knees as far as production and farmers not getting a good return, they will eventually say ‘I’ll just sell my water’,” he said.
“You see a lot of farms around here that are totally dead because the water is worth more than the farm.”
