Treasury Wine Estates says a global wine glut appears to be over, after France, Italy and Spain had had their lowest harvest in decades.
TWE chief executive David Dearie said in Melbourne on Monday that France, Italy and Spain had had their lowest harvest in decades.
He said that from what he had read, there was "no wine in the tank in Italy, there was no wine in the tank in Spain, and there was no wine in the tank in France".
Mr Dearie said France expected 1.3 billion fewer bottles of wine to be available this year, compared to last year, he said.
"That's about 5% of the total global consumption," he said.
In the southern hemisphere, Mr Dearie said it looked like Argentina and Chile had had a moderate harvest. The harvest in California had not finished yet.
"So that's a significant change," Mr Dearie said.
AAP reports the Australian Bureau of Statistics has issued data showing that the total vineyard area in Australia fell by 9% over the past 12 months.
Mr Dearie said that globally, the area under vine had shrunk from around 10 million hectares in the late 1970s, to about 7.5 million hectares now.
"There's a lot of evidence to suggest there is less wine - there's less grapes," Mr Dearie said.
He said wine was a cyclical business, going from periods of over-supply, to balance, to under-supply.
"It looks like we're back into a shortage as we start to look at the impact of the harvests in Europe this year."
