Marlborough fills the tanks with one of its largest vintages
Sunday, 26 June 2022
Desperately low on stocks after very light 2021 yields, Marlborough wine producers are breathing a sigh of relief following a significantly larger vintage this year.
New Zealand Winegrowers figures show 414,549 tonnes of grapes were harvested in Marlborough this year, a 54% rise from 2021. It is one of the largest in the region's history.
Across New Zealand there were 532,000 tonnes of grapes harvested during the 2022 vintage, up 44% on last year’s crop.
Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW) chair and Dog Point Vineyard founder Ivan Sutherland said a satisfying vintage to allow renewal of stocks was needed all around.
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'With the huge demand for New Zealand wine, it was a reassuring vintage that all growers and companies were very pleased with.
'New Zealand wine and particularly Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is in huge demand overseas, and if you can't supply then you will have the international market being supplied from other countries, such as Chile or Spain, with other wines.
'So this vintage allows us to get back and satisfies sales,' Sutherland said.
Last year's crop was the smallest harvest in Marlborough since 2015 and left some wineries struggling to meet demand.
Marlborough Chamber of Commerce General Manager Pete Coldwell said this year’s vintage has topped the sector up.
'It got us back to where we need to be.
'You would think with a vintage of this scale that there might be a surplus, but from every business that I've spoken to, they have either allocated this year's wine or almost pre-sold it.
'It is a huge boost in terms of the cash flow that comes into the region.”
He said it was not just the wineries and growers who would make money from a good harvest.
'It's all of the myriad of service businesses, the hospitality, the engineering, the contractors and retailers who all service the wineries that will benefit from this.'
'The issues that they face in terms of supply chain and shipping are certainly not sorted yet, but it's easier to deal with those issues when you've had a great harvest than a poor one,' Coldwell said.
New Zealand wine exports for 2021 were $1.95 billion, down just 3% on 2020 despite the 19% fall in production from the 2021 harvest.
Cloudy Bay Vineyards Estate Director and AMW committee member Yang Shen said that with increasing global demand and rising costs, a considered pricing strategy and an uncompromising approach to quality was critical to a successful long-term plan.
'Demand is increasing across all markets, including newer entrants as such Korea and China, and looks unlikely to fall away.
'In addition, we are seeing diversification in the kinds of wines that are being requested, for example the USA is clamouring for rosé and sparkling wines.
'When we look at the future, we know that we will never have enough wine to meet that demand.
'Therefore, for us, the solution lies in an unwavering focus on quality, rather than quantity.'