Aussies love their wine…now new data reveals that Australians are among the world’s top 10 markets for consumption – with tastes moving up-market as we age like a fine wine. By the numbers, Australia produces more than 1.2 billion litres of wine every year, with just under 40% (or 457 million litres) consumed locally and the balance (743 million litres) exported to all corners of the world.
However, beyond the grapes, soil, and climate, American or French oak is used to age the wine and develop its structure, mouthfeel, and aroma. And for those who enjoy stronger, fleshier wines with a hint of vanilla or coconut, the answer is American oak – or, more specifically, White oak.
“Australia buys a lot of lumber to turn into various aging products like tank staves,” according to Rod Wiles, the American Hardwood Export Council’s Regional Director for Africa, the Middle East, India and Oceania, who said that up to a third of White oak imports could be tied up in the industry.”
Mr Wiles, who spoke to Wood Central in the latest podcast, said the wine trade is just one of a growing number of industries that now rely on American hardwoods. “What we have seen over the last year or two years is a really big jump in the exports of Red oak lumber imported into Australia in response to the gap in the local supply of hardwoods.”
Last year, Wood Central reported that Australian shipments in Red oak – used in mouldings, flooring, doors, cabinets and coffins – jumped more than 167% for the first eight months of 2024. Moreover, they are a perfect substitute for high-density timbers used in bushfire areas. According to Mr Wiles, one of the key points of difference with American species – like Red and White oak is that they are high quality, consistent and “plug into large production cycles.”
“When we ship American hardwood lumber worldwide, it is kiln dried (from wood chip, sawdust and solar), which has a fairly low energy. The production cycle from extraction in the forest to arrival at port is a low embodied energy process,” he said.
- To learn more about Rod Wiles and AHEC, the global face of the US hardwood industry for over thirty years, click here to watch Wood Central’s podcast in full.
