South Australia’s grape production is dominated by wine grapes, which account for 97.9% of the total area under vine at 30 April 2024 (Table 1). In 2024, there are only nine vineyard owners on Vinehealth’s Register growing only non-wine grape varieties.
While over the last five years the area of wine grapes has been notably declining year-on-year, the area of multi-purpose and table grape varieties has remained comparatively stable (Table 1). This is perhaps indicative of different market pressures.
There are 24 non-winegrape varieties showing plantings on Vinehealth’s Register in 2024. The top four of these by area are all multi-purpose varieties and together they comprise 77% of all non-winegrape varieties by planted area in 2024 (Table 2). The most recent plantings of non-winegrape varieties were in 2019 (0.41 ha of multi-purpose), 2020 (0.56 ha of table grapes) and 2022 (0.63 ha of table grapes) across the Riverland, McLaren Vale and Clare regions.
Comparing non-winegrape varieties present on the Register in 2024 compared to 2020 ─ the largest varietal increases in planted area were in Sunglo (multi-purpose white), Autumn Crisp (table grape white), Menindee Seedless (table grape white) and Black Corinth (multi-purpose red); while the largest decreases in planted area were in Waltham Cross (multi-purpose white), Red Globe (table grape red), Sun Muscat (multi-purpose white) and Carina (multi-purpose red). Two red table grape varieties, Adora Seedless and Black Sultana which have planted area on the Register in 2024, were absent in 2020, and the multi-purpose white grapes, Merbein Seedless, which was present in 2020 on the Register is now absent five years later in 2024.
Table 1. Five year South Australian planted vineyard area at 30 April by end use.
| End use | Area (hectares) | ||||
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Multi-purpose | 113 | 116 | 129 | 128 | 124 |
| Table grape | 49 | 45 | 26 | 27 | 26 |
| Wine grape | 74,721 | 74,857 | 74,647 | 74,197 | 73,196 |
| Other/Unknown | 1,125 | 1,160 | 1,351 | 1,133 | 1,386 |
| Total | 76,008 | 76,178 | 76,153 | 75,485 | 74,732 |
Table 2. Top four non-winegrape varieties by area in South Australia at 30 April 2024.
| Grape variety | Area (ha) |
| Sunglo | 39.5 |
| Carina | 37.9 |
| Zante Currant / Black Corinth | 19.9 |
| Waltham Cross | 16.8 |