Some worrying news for New Zealand wine lovers.
New Zealand wine is hugely popular around the world!
Although the amount of New Zealand wine imported into Japan is still small, it is actually very popular around the world. According to data from 2020, the United States is the world's largest importer of wine, accounting for 16.9% of the world's total.
The third largest wine importer to the United States after Italy and France is New Zealand. Compared to the previous year, imports from Italy were down 1.7% and from France 19.9%, but New Zealand's imports increased by 5.4%. The second largest importer after the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom. Here too, New Zealand wine imports are ranked 4th after France, Italy, and Australia, and the country is very popular.
Compared to the previous year, the import amount has increased by a whopping 13.1%. Given this situation, New Zealand's wine exports are expected to continue to increase in the future. However, the problem is that grape harvests were poor in 2021...
Grape yields decline
Clive Jones , chair of New Zealand Winegrowers , an organization established in 2002 for New Zealand's grape and wine industry, said:We are seeing a growing demand for New Zealand wine internationally, but at the same time we are facing a wine shortage.
This year's grape harvest was 19% lower than last year's. The reason was that the weather was not good, and some areas experienced severe weather such as hail in the middle of summer.
Breaking down the varieties, Sauvignon Blanc, which accounts for three-quarters of New Zealand's wine production, fell by 18%, Pinot Gris by 27% and Pinot Noir by a staggering 34%.
For more details on this year's harvest, click here
▶ New Zealand's wine grape "annual harvest ranking" for 2021 announced! Significant decline this year
Jones predicted that many wineries would face a grape shortage and end up with a pile of empty wine barrels to spare, and expressed concern that people might not be able to drink their favorite wines.
Labor shortage is also serious
Labor shortages are a serious problem for New Zealand, which has been implementing long-term entry restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, New Zealand has relied on workers from overseas to harvest crops, and there have been reports in the news recently that fruit harvests cannot be completed in time.
Grapes are no exception. In Marlborough, there is a shortage of manpower, and about 10% of the vines could not be pruned in time. There are concerns that this will affect the yield of the next season.
This season, since winemaking began, the vines did not finish before they needed to be pruned.A person involved said.
New Zealand winery uses Chilean grapes
In an effort to alleviate this grape shortage, Mad House , a winery in Marlborough, imported Sauvignon Blanc grapes from Chile and began making wine using them.
Source: Mud House Wines official website
Grapes grown in Chile are made into wine in New Zealand. I'm curious to know what it tastes like, but unfortunately this product is only available for sale in the UK and Europe.
It seems that it will not be sold in New Zealand, let alone in Japan. Naturally, this wine shortage will lead to higher prices, but wineries seem to be cautious about raising prices in New Zealand.
Some wineries say they want to avoid raising prices too much and losing their wines to wine stores. It is no exaggeration to say that Kiwis drink wine like water, and there is a wide selection of reasonably priced and delicious wines in New Zealand. We can only hope that this wine shortage will not lead to higher prices for export wine in the future.
