NZ cuts back crop

New Zealand winegrowers have been advised to be brutal in their selection of grapes for the 2009 harvest in order to preserve the country’s image and price position in export markets. Tales of full tanks containing the 2008 vintage and cutting crops of the 2009 vintage were prolific at the New Zealand Winegrowers’ annual tasting in London.

The generic body has distributed crop-thinning advice to its members to ensure it doesn’t land itself with a massive oversupply of wine in 2009, which could result in a drop in price and the emergence of new brands in order to get the 2008 vintage, much of which is still sitting in tanks, distributed.

Predictions of another bumper harvest in 2009 have prompted the generic body to advise the industry to be careful with its stock management. Philip Gregan, chief executive officer of New Zealand Winegrowers said: “The message we’re getting and giving is that of managing the crop properly. Hawkes Bay will be a larger crop but most other areas will be smaller than 2008.”

Chris Unger of Negociants UK, which represents Marlborough estate Nautilus, said: “People have got full tanks, they’re either going to have to dump it or sell it cheap. There’s probably a lot of grapes that shouldn’t have been picked in 2008 and I think we’re going to see a lot of other brands emerging.”

New Zealand’s 2008 vintage crush came in at a record 285,000 tonnes, compared to 205,000 tonnes in 2007 and 185,000 tonnes in 2006.

Jane Parkinson, 14.01.08