NZ wine holds reputation in UK despite oversupply worries

Local worries about wine overproduction are nothing new, according to a leading UK wine expert who has been importing and judging New Zealand wine for more than three decades.

John Avery was chief judge at the New Zealand Wine Show in 1978 and was back in New Zealand this week to serve as an international judge at the latest Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

Mr Avery has been importing New Zealand wines into the UK since the early seventies and told NBR calls to limit production following two bumper harvest had a familiar ring to them.

“They were talking about the dangers of oversupply back when I started judging in the 70s, and the industry has still managed to grow quite nicely.”

He said the sheer amount of New Zealand wine would push the UK prices down, but were unlikely to have a long-term negative impact on the country’s wine brand, which would benefit from the exposure.

“People who don’t drink it usually will try it, hopefully like it and help spread the reputation. You could get expectations of a lower price, but New Zealand wines are still extremely well known at the top end and that is unlikely to change.

“But here are plenty of buyers who are price fickle and won’t pay over six pounds for a wine and they will get that chance in the immediate future, where before they wouldn’t even try them.”

He said all of the world’s major wine producers had seen their fair share of gluts and shortages and the industry just needed to accept that fact and deal with it.

Mr Avery was the first retailer in the United Kingdom to import New Zealand wines and the first to import a comprehensive range from seven wineries in 1979.

The explosion of wine production seen since then had seen his range expand, and New Zealand wines imported through the company he still chairs - Avery’s Wine Merchants – now accounted for about 15% to 20% of all sales.

He said the country’s reputation for Sauvignon Blanc was well known in the UK, with growing awareness of the other different types of wine produced such as Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.

But New Zealand’s huge Sauvignon Blanc focus meant it could miss out on some changing British tastes.

“Chardonnay is making a comeback in the UK and throughout the world. That’s been a Cinderella wine for the past three or four years. And a lot of UK customers have been going back to the French wines recently.”

“But New Zealand wines still have an enviable reputation and sales are still holding up well overall.”