When too much sauvignon blanc is definitely enough

I hate to say I told you so, but I did forecast a sauvignon blanc glut coming when I saw all the new vineyard plantings in Marlborough a decade or so ago.

The wine industry is a fashion industry and while New Zealand sauvignon blanc is a very fine drink it was always going to struggle to maintain the phenomenal popularity it once enjoyed.

No surprise, then, when Radio New Zealand reported this week that declining wine consumption both domestically and overseas is forcing some Marlborough growers to leave their grapes unpicked this season.

In the year ending June 2024, New Zealand wine exports saw a 12.2% drop in value and a 13% drop in volume compared to the previous 12 months.

Picking of this season's sauvignon blanc vintage has just started with wineries moving onto 24-hour operations this week and predicting high yields.

But with wine still in tanks from last year and lower sales, that is forcing wine makers to ask grape growers not to pick all the grapes.

Industry group Wine Marlborough general manager Marcus Pickens said a good flowering followed by great growing conditions has made for too much of a good thing.

"There are a lot of yield caps this year, something not seen in recent years," Pickens said. "We need to introduce those limits to balance out demand and supply."

Fruit is being "harvested to the ground, or left on vines".

"It's not a great situation, obviously we want to harvest everything and sell it to the market, but it's a pretty mature response from an industry perspective that a re-balancing needs to occur," Pickens told RNZ.

He said unsold wine from last vintage was taking up storage space, which also meant less fruit could be picked now.

Sauvignon blanc is the largest export wine variety in New Zealand, with most - about 75% - coming from Marlborough.

New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said there was uncertainty about United States tariffs and a slow global market, coming on top of the 2022 and 2023 years which produced very high volume.

The good news for consumers: sauvignon blanc prices over the next 12 months will be very competitive. 

Major milestone for one of the world's top wine regions

Younger wine lovers may find find it hard to believe, but there was a time when Marlborough sauvignon blanc did not exist. 

While the style is now ubiquitous - and arguably more famous than Sancerre - Marlborough's rapid ascent to become New Zealand’s major wine-growing region has happened quickly. 

This year, the region’s winemakers and growers are celebrating 50 years since Marlborough’s official beginning as a wine region - and its progression to international renown. 

Wine Marlborough general manager Marcus Pickens says although planting vines in Marlborough 50 years ago might have appeared to be a gamble, the region has the perfect climate for grapes.

“For many of our winegrowing pioneers - Frank Yukich, the Rose, Sutherland, Ibbotson, Marris and Scott families, just to name a few - it would have been gut instinct backed by climate science,” Pickens says.

Marlborough’s first vines - containing muscat grapes - was planted at Auntsfield by Scotsman David Herd in 1873. But commercial plantings didn’t begin until 1973, led by Montana Wines (now known as Brancott Estate) in Fairhall. 

Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, many boutique wine brands - including Cloudy Bay - opened their cellar doors and, by 1986, the name Marlborough was known around the world. 

Viticulture expanded from 6,831 hectares in 2003 to the nearly 30,000 hectares of vineyard Marlborough boasts today - about 71% of New Zealand's national total. 

Marlborough produces between 300 million to 400 million bottles of wine annually, depending on the vintage. 

“From humble beginnings to now producing 79% of New Zealand wine, celebrating this 50-year milestone is something Marlborough, and the entire New Zealand wine industry, can be proud of,” says Charlotte Read, general manager brand of New Zealand Winegrowers. 

“There is no other wine region of the world that has moved from ‘zero to hero’ in just five decades.

“With the value of New Zealand wine exports at an all-time high of $2.4 billion, this proves that globally customers continue to appreciate the vibrant flavours, commitment to quality and sustainability of New Zealand wines, and the distinctive Marlborough character has laid the foundation for our international renown." 

Beth Forrest is the Marlborough Winegrowers Association Board chair. Her parents first planted vines in Marlborough in 1988, and today farm on over 100 hectares. 

She says Marlborough has diverse microclimates in a small space, which contributes to some of the region’s signature sauvignon blanc styles.

“You don’t have to go far to experience a change in soil profile," she says. 

"Sauvignon blanc from the mid-Wairau has an old-school elegance and is austere and mineral-driven. But in the Lower Wairau it has more of a tropical fruit profile. And then in the Awatere it has that punchy, herbal tomato-leaf character."

Although Marlborough is best-known for its sauvignon blanc, Pickens says the region has been well-regarded by aficionados since the 1980s for its traditionally made sparkling wine and, from the late 2000s, for its pinot noir. 

“Wine has made Marlborough an area with a real global presence," Pickens says. "It’s just changed the demographic and made it more multinational. It’s a connection to the rest of the planet that has brought vibrancy and innovation to the region.” 

Pickens hopes the 50-year milestone inspires wine appreciators to re-visit the region. 

“Wine in Marlborough is a big high-value tourism drawcard. The diversity of our wines, particularly our aromatic varieties. It is a real draw - everyone who comes to the region is surprised at the range we have to offer."

See https://www.marlboroughwinenz.com/ and https://www.nzwine.com/