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Harvest was already started in Gisborne a couple of
weeks ago. Based partially on the crops there, a growth of 20% over last
year is expected making the industry optimistic about record export too
this year.
New Zealand Winegrowers CEO Philip Gregan said the increased
vintage would be welcomed by wineries given strong sales in the past year.
He said the quality of the vintage was also expected to be better because
of a prolonged summer this year and many hot days.'
New Zealand Wines in India
Of late, interest in wines from New Zealand hs been on
the increase, despite their being more expensive. Brindco, Sonarys, Moet
Hennessey, Global and Sula have been importing them but the new charge
has come from the newer importers.
FineWinesnMore imports New Zealand wines from Forrest
Estate and Sileni. 'Both these brands have won lots of accolades from
International media. In the coming fiscal year; 2008-09 we expect an increase
of at least 50% in the sales of both the brands compared to last year,'
says Sumedh S. Mandla, partner of the Mumbai based progressive importer.
Mandla and his partner Dharti Desai have reasons to smile.
They entered four of these labels in the India Wine Challenge last year.
Not only did all four get a medal, the Gold medalist Forrest Pinot was
declared the Best Red Wine in the competition.
Naresh Uttamchandani, Director of Sovereign Impex opens
up like a bottle of champagne when he talks about Babich- his recently
acquired NZ brand. It was such a hit with the members of the Delhi Wine
Club at the dinner held in Hyatt Regency that he had received his first
order from the hotel the very next morning, he claims. 'We increase our
orders by 50% each time our customers re-order which is a testament to
our wine drinking fraternity and the producer.'
Amfora Wines is another new importer whose wine portfolio
indicates that he has been in love with Italian wines. But recently he
has started having an affair with New Zealand and has already signed up
with-not one but two producers, a testimony to the increasing On Trade
demand.
Of course, the old stalwarts like Montana, Cloudy Bay,
Nobilo and Goldwater have been already well entrenched in the premium
section of many a 5-star wine menu. Villa Maria recently changed 'hands'
and fell into the expert hands of Brindco who will exploit the brand and
make it exploit the consumers.
Paul Vaughan, the NZ Trade Commissioner, most of whose
emails get back with an automated reply that he is on a trade assignment
in some part of India or outside is not surprised. ' As a person with
wine background I can tell you that we have so many wineries that have
come up recently with good quality wines waiting to be discovered. Quality
has its premium. And markets like UK are willing to pay the price for
quality. The demand pretty much outstrips the supply.'
He is well aware of the fact that global warming is going
to be beneficial to his compatriots as new areas which are too cold will
keep on coming up more and more, adding to the increase in tonnage for
the next few years. In fact, the increase expected during this year's
harvest is due to availability of 2000 hA more vines this year. Of course,
more normal yields in a number of regions helped after a cool flowering
in 2007 resulted in lower harvest.
'There has also been a doubling of produces from the
500 or so we had a decade ago,' adds Paul. Many of the new producers own
boutique wineries and produce small quantities but high quality.
Exports
New Zealand produces less than half percent of world
production and exports merely 1% of the total world exports. But its Sauvignon
Blanc and Pinot Noir are considered one of the best in the world, even
though Sancerre and Burgundy or Oregon may grudge the comparison.
Last year, wine exports were up 24 per cent in value
to NZ $761 million. The strong demand has made many leading wineries experience
supply constraints and they are excited about the larger vintage which
will make more wine available.
The industry has targeted the premium wine market for
exports and has set the goal of NZ$1 billion by 2010. 'We are sure we
shall beat the target', says Paul confidently.
If one goes by the increase in production, aided by the
climate change, and the recent flurry of marketing activities in the price-sensitive
market in India and the growth expected by the importers here, New Zealand
is on a good wicket and should have no difficulty in reaching the target.
Subhash Arora
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