Foster's confirmed it had found phylloxera on a small section of a 32-hectare vineyard in Australia's Yarra Valley last Friday, the first time the insect pest has been discovered in the region.

Phylloxera is an aphid pest that feeds on the roots of vines. It has been a dreaded scourge of the wine industry since devastating large swathes of Europe's vineyards in the late 19th Century.

The region's wine heritage was only saved by grafting American root-stock, which was found to be resistant to the pest, onto existing European vines.

Foster's said authorities in the state of Victoria were still trying to determine the extent of the phylloxera infestation in Yarra Valley, and how the pest had got there.

Strict quarantine restrictions were in place on the affected vineyard, but the firm said costs from the outbreak were unlikely to be substantial.

Phylloxera is already known to be present in isolated winegrowing regions of Victoria and New South Wales, including the King Valley, Nagambie and Rutherglen in North East Victoria and areas around Sydney in New South Wales.