Wine makers ask growers to leave some grapes unpicked in Marlborough

Picking of this season's sauvignon blanc vintage has just started. (File pic) Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes

Declining wine consumption both in New Zealand and offshore is forcing some Marlborough growers to leave grapes unpicked this season.

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

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

But with wine still in vats from last year and lower sales, it's 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 said some unsold wine from last season was taking up space which also meant less fruit could be picked now.

Sauvignon blanc is the largest export wine variety with most - about 75 percent - coming from Marlborough so wine growers were feeling the pinch more than other regions.

Pickens said growers were feeling nervous about the changing drinking patterns.

"But then you get the seasoned hands and they say this is just a cyclical moment. There's a lot of confidence still behind the wine industry."

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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 volumes.

Photo: 123rf

Wine Marlborough's 2023 vintage report said 393,865 tonnes of grapes were harvested in Marlborough that year, and 414,649 tonnes in 2022.

Gregan said every year in some regions grapes did not get harvested, but admitted this year was worse, adding however that he saw underlying confidence and strength in the sector.

"Looking forward the question the industry always needs to be confident about is 'are we producing the right wines for the market we're selling into?', and the resounding answer to that question is yes and that's what gives the industry confidence in the medium to long term."

Viticulture consultant with Grape Sense Mike Insley said it would be a tough year financially for growers.

Already some pinot gris was left unpicked, and the same thing would happen for sauvignon blanc.

Growers were experiencing a double whammy with caps on harvest volumes and dropping prices.

"Back in 2023 I think the district average was just over $2400 a tonne. Last year it came in at just over $2100 a tonne and this year the district average is looking more around the $1800 a tonne. That's a significant drop in a couple of years.

"And also the yield caps have come on top of a low yielding vintage 2024, so most growers didn't hit their contract yields last year so they would have had reduced income from that, and now to have a cap on their income with a falling grape price as well, it's been tough times out there."

Insley said a number of Marlborough vineyards were for sale which could mean people looking to put their money into other ventures.

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