Vineyards take 9pc harvest hit

This season’s up-and-down weather has hit New Zealand’s grape harvest, which has tallied 396,000 tonnes, 9 per cent less than last year’s but still the third largest on record.

New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said it was hard to predict whether the smaller vintage would lead to a rise in prices, either on the domestic or export market.

For exports, prices often depended on exchange rates.

Last year’s harvest was 436,000 tonnes, the second highest on record after the mammoth 445,000 tonne pick in 2014.

However, there have been hundreds if not thousands more hectares planted in grapes since 2014.

Gregan said all regions had seen a decline, although Northland and Gisborne were less affected. Heavy rainfall and cool windy weather had played a part in the overall reduction.

The lower harvest will possibly put a brake on export earnings, which have grown year on year to reach almost $1.6 billion to June 2016.

‘‘Given strong demand in overseas markets, wineries had been looking forward to a larger harvest this year. With the smaller vintage, however, export volume growth is likely to be more muted in the year ahead,’’ Gregan said.

Export prices might hold up because New Zealand wines attract a premium in most markets where they are sold. In the United Kingdom, for example, New Zealand wines are chasing hard on the heels of French wines for volume and value.

In 2015 the average price per bottle of New Zealand wine was £7.37 according to Nielsen, above the overall UK average which was £5.46.

And in the United States, which has now become the most lucrative export market, New Zealand ranks behind only Italy and France on the import value of its wine, now worth $579 million.

Gregan said wineries were confident the vintage would be a quality one but it would depend on how the market reacted to the wines when they were released.