The growth in export value was largely driven by a surge in shipments to mainland China, following the removal of tariffs on Australian bottled wine at the end of March last year.

The lifting of trade tariffs by China triggered a surge in Australian wine exports last year, but it is unclear whether Chinese demand will remain strong after buyers have restocked, an industry body said on Wednesday.

Chinese wine consumption is much lower than it was before the import tariffs were imposed’, said a researcher for Wine Australia.