KEY POINTS:
Delegat's Wine Group has failed to achieve its forecast grape harvest, blaming the cold weather that savaged the industry last December.
The company's harvest of 18,385 tonnes this year was 5.7 per cent down on the prospectus forecast of 19,488 tonnes.
Although managing director Jim Delegat said volumes were sufficient for the company to continue growing global sales, its shares dropped 9c to $2.50.
The announcement came as Delegat's subsidiary Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyards revealed a 10 per cent decrease in its harvest on last year to 4206 tonnes because of the same climatic conditions.
Delegat said that although the company sourced all of its prized sauvignon blanc in Marlborough, all of its varieties were down around 5.7 per cent down.
"Oyster Bay is 23 per cent of Delegat's Wine Estate's grape supply and while Oyster Bay was down in line with the Marlborough region the impact on Delegat's was only 5.7 per cent, since Delegat's draw their grape supply from a broader source, being their company-owned vineyards and grower partners," he said.
New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said last month that Marlborough had led this year's vintage with 121,000 tonnes, but that its production was up only 7 per cent, despite a much larger producing area.
He also said that with wine exports up 31 per cent and supply up only 11 per cent, the industry would continue to experience supply constraints.
Delegat agreed the wine industry was unlikely to have sufficient plants to cope with the global demand.
"I hold the view that we will continue to be supply-constrained into the future and more particularly with Marlborough sauvignon blanc."
However, he said, the outlook for Delegat's next season was better, with new plantings set to come to maturity, as long as the weather was favourable. "We would be likely to see a considerable increase in total vineyard yields."
While Gregan reported that Marlborough was up 7 per cent overall this harvest, an Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyard release said reductions of around 10 per cent were widely reported in the region's Wairau Valley.
Cold Comfort
* Delegat's Group's grape harvest this year is down 5.7 per cent on its prospectus forecast.
* The harvest for Delegat's subsidiary Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyards was down 10 per cent.
* However, group managing director Jim Delegat says volumes are still sufficient to grow its global sales.
