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.