The strong Australian dollar is prompting many wine drinkers to take advantage of cheaper price tags on premium imported wines, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Figures for the period ending in March this year show that the price of imported wines dropped by about $1 per litre, while white wine imports rose 12.4 percent and red wine imports increased by 8.8 per cent.

Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Germany were among the countries to experience the greatest increase in imports to Australia. CommSec’s Craig James told the AAP that the benefits of the high Australian dollar were making themselves obvious in the wine market.

“The strength of the Australia dollar has pushed down the price of imported goods and provided a range of Chilean, Argentinean, French, and Italian wine on our market. If you’re a winemaker, certainly there is a lot of pressure on you at the moment, with a high amount of supply, so there is a downward pressure on price, but for consumers it has been happy days,” said James.