New Zealand 2016 harvest up 34%

New Zealand’s 2016 vintage is up 34% on last year’s crop, but still below the record-breaking 2014 harvest.

New Zealand produced 436,000 tonnes of grapes, which was more than last year’s harvest, but still less than the 445,000 tonnes yielded in 2014

According to official figures released this morning, this year’s vintage produced 436,000 tonnes of grapes, 110,000 tonnes more than 2015’s vintage, which amounted to just 326,000 tonnes, sparking fears at the time of a Sauvignon Blanc shortage.

However, with news that this year’s harvest had produced a larger and healthy crop, New Zealand Winegrowers CEO Philip Gregan said that the 2016 vintage “will be a welcome boost for markets, growers and wineries”.

He also said that the bigger vintage would help New Zealand meet its “goal of $2 billion of wine exports by 2020.”

Currently, he said that “New Zealand wine exports are now valued at $1.56 billion, up 13% in the past year.”

2015’s harvest was 27% down on the record 2014 vintage, which yielded 445,000 tonnes of grapes, 72% of which were Sauvignon Blanc – or 320,000 tonnes.