Australia shipped 1.2 million gallons of wine...

Australia shipped 1.2 million gallons of wine to the United States last year, qualifying for the first time for the exclusive “million-gallon” club whose sole members have been European--in order, Italy, France, West Germany, Portugal and Spain.

According to Los Angeles-based Wine Investor, only Australia’s wine exports increased last year--the number of cases shipped increasing 251.9% to 500,000, or 1.2 million gallons. Averaging in the other club members’ figures, wine exports to this country fell 21.6%, reported publisher Paul Gillette. In all, Italy led wine exporters with 12.6 million cases, down 23.6%, followed by France (7.7 million, down 24.8%), West Germany (2.9 million, down 25.1%), Portugal (1.5 million, down 1.2%) and Spain (550,000 cases, down 3.9%), which puts Spain in position to be overtaken by Australia this year.

Gillette attributed Australia’s success, despite a stronger Aussie dollar, to the fact that its exports are almost entirely premium table wines--a small but vibrant sales sector. The wines are also priced below comparable imports as well as many comparable California wines.