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Nautilus harvest. Photo New Zealand Winegrowers
Marlborough’s 21% crop drop SOPHIE PREECE
NEW ZEALAND’S grape harvest dropped 19% in vintage 2021, with 370,000 tonnes picked nationwide. Marlborough’s 269,521 tonne harvest, representing 75.2% of the total yield, was 21% down on 2020, while the national Sauvignon Blanc harvest – dominated by Marlborough and comprising 74.8% of the national pick – dropped by 18%. Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir were hardest hit varieties, with national drops of 27% and 35% respectively. New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan presented the vintage results at last month’s Grape Days events, held in three locations around the country with a record number of more than 900 attendees in total. He began by looking back at 2020, from the work done to advocate for the wine industry becoming an essential service, to exports hitting $2 billion on the back of a retail boom during Covid-19. “It was a crazy, crazy year and hopefully - probably- we will never live through a year like that again.” The stellar sales of 2020 meant New Zealand entered 2021 short of wine, and over the past six months there has been a fall in export value and volume, with export volume down 17% since the beginning of the year and value down 6% from the peak of 2020, said Philip. “Then of course we had the vintage.” Inclement weather over flowering, as well as some frost damage, hit wine regions in the middle of the country hardest, including Marlborough, Nelson (down 33%) Wairarapa (down 30%) and North Canterbury (down 26%) while Northern areas achieved better yields, between 1% and 8% down. Hawke’s Bay, the second biggest player with 11.5% of the national crop, harvested 41,153 tonnes, down 5% on 2020. Meanwhile, Central Otago bucked the trend, with crops up 21% on 2020. While the quality is exceptional, the yields promise supply and demand tension “In simple terms it’s not the quantity of wine to support the level of sales that the industry recorded in the past year,” Philip told Grape Days audiences. “Our best estimate is the industry is going to be short about 7 million cases of wine, so there’s going to be a
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strong fall in export sales, and we expect in domestic sales in New Zealand as well.” It was encouraging to see that in uncertain times, “consumers continue to choose a premium product they know that they can trust,” he said. “Wines from vintage 2021 promise to be something special, but in some instances, the question may just be whether there is enough to go around.” Grower incomes would be well down at a time they are facing “greatly increased costs”, he continued. “For wineries affected by the downturn in production, there will be lots of questions about which customers they will supply, how much and at what price.” Siobhan Wilson of Marisco Vineyards says communication is key to managing the shortfall in supply. “We have been talking continuously to our partners overseas from the moment we knew the vintage was going to be low,” she says. “We want to ensure consistent supply, so making sure that we can supply in a sustainable way is important.” Everyone wants more, and that’s especially true this year, she adds. “Demand is some of the biggest we have seen. Looking after our key partners is what is most important to us.” Philip told Grape Days audiences that, given the impact and associated difficulties of Covid-19 over the past year, the New Zealand wine industry was opposed to an increase in wine excise as of July 1. A major concern with this increase is the impact it will have on the approximately 300 small wineries who only sell in the domestic market, he said. “They have already been hit hard by the lack of international tourists post-Covid, surging production costs, and the difficulties being experienced in the hospitality sector. Adding to those stresses with yet another tax rise does not make sense right now.”
