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Value growth of New Zealand wine off the charts
Increased prices of NZ wine has led to its biggest ever value growth at export, soaring 23% over the last 12 months to reach NZ$2.4 billion.
The annual New Zealand wine report has revealed that while producers have put prices up on their wines sold at export, it has done little to deter international drinkers.
In fact, quite the opposite is true.
New Zealand Winegrowers has reported the country’s biggest ever one-year value growth, leaping by NZ$450 million during the 12 months to 30 June 2023 to reach a total value of NZ$2.4 billion.
The achievement means that NZ is now the world’s sixth-largest wine exporter by value, and suggests that consumers are prepared to stump up for the more premium prices that New Zealand wines now command.
What’s more, the report shows that the country’s wine industry is now “the most export-focused of all the world’s wine industries”, with almost 90% of its wine sales occurring outside of New Zealand.
Growth in the last year was led predominantly by the US, with Americans spending 25% more on NZ wine in the last 12 months (totalling NZ$870 million) than in the previous year.
According to Clive Jones, chair of New Zealand Winegrowers, who authored part of the report, further growth is expected in the US market, “which may become a billion-dollar market in its own right in the future.”
In addition to higher prices, the re-opening of borders has reinvigorated New Zealand’s cellar door sales as tourists return to New Zealand.
This renewed freedom of movement has also allowed wineries to benefit from the better availability of seasonal workers for harvest.
However, overall production from vintage 2023 was down 6% on 2022, largely due to damage caused to vineyards by Cyclone Gabrielle, which struck in February this year. db will publish a second story further detailing the impact of the cyclone six months on from the disaster.
During the 2023 New Zealand harvest, 501,000 tonnes of grapes were crushed, leading to a total production of 360.7 million litres.
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