success. Kym Davey, owner and man-
aging director of Shingleback Winery
in McLaren Vale (the Napa Valley of
Australia), explains, during a break in
the action at the festival, how Austra-
lian wine fell out of relative favour.
"I think it was the perfect storm,"
shouts the garrulous winemaker over
the growing din at the Vancouver
Convention Centre, touching my arm
several times to emphasize his point.
"It was a combination of the strength
of the global economic crisis, a rising
Australian dollar, and Yellow Tail and
its cheap-and-cheerful shit—everything
happened at once."
McLaren Vale is located just south
of Adelaide in South Australia, home
to 50 per cent of Australia's wine
production. Davey, a fifth-generation
South Australian farmer, started the
winery in 1995 with his brother John,
on family-owned land in the Wil-
lunga Basin. Davey is the first to admit
that it's been a difficult few years for
Shingleback and the rest of the Austra-
lian industry, although his winery, he
feels, has weathered the storm better
than many.
"We never strayed from our core
business. We never made a jammy
wine," he says, pointing to his entry-
level wine, the Shingleback Red Knot
Shiraz, which retails for $19.99 at BC
Liquor Stores. "That's always been
good wine. It's never been sweet. It's
never been over-alcoholized. It's never
been over-oaked. So we never got
treated with the same disdain as a lot
of other wines. We didn't get beat up."
When Shingleback started, Davey's
intent was to dominate the U.S.
market. "Originally I wanted 66 per
cent of my market to be in the U.S.
because there was an opening in the
early 2000s: the Australian dollar was
weak; the U.S. dollar was strong. We
got in there very early."
But today, he says, Shingleback is
selling half as much in the U.S. as it did
during that peak period, with Canada
now outperforming America. Among
other reasons for the difference (the
exchange rate being key), Davey cred-
its high-quality buyers and distribution
north of the border. "In the U.S., in
2003 or 2004, I was driving around in
a black Hummer giving away television
sets to salesmen to develop the market.
In Canada we just had quality distribu-
tion. It's a lot more level playing field
here."
With the Australian dollar now in
decline versus the U.S. dollar, many
Aussie winemakers are hoping that
tides will shift again and Australian
wine will once again have its day in the
global sun. As Brian Walsh, chair of the
Australian Grape and Wine Authority,
told an assembled crowd to launch the
wine festival: "Australia is an island con-
tinent with ancient soils, old vines—but
importantly, young, fresh thinking. We
are confident, but not complacent, in
the knowledge that our fine wines are
the equal of any in the world today."
•
60 BCBusiness may 2015 jeff vinnick
NO SWALLOWING
Wine tasting at this year's
Vancouver International
Wine Festival
