Kiwi whites win Australians over

The cousins across the ditch are drinking more Kiwi wine as they turn increasingly to whites.

Wine exports to Australia have risen from 56 million litres in 2004 to 88 million litres this year and wineries such as Matua Valley, one of New Zealand's largest, have doubled export sales in the past two years.

Australian statistics to September showed a strong rise in imported bottled white wine, much of it from New Zealand, with sauvignon blanc accounting for all the growth.

Matua Valley Wines export manager Simon Beck described the growth as a runaway train as Australian consumers turn to cooler-climate wine styles.

Beck said that at one stage he thought Australia would overtake the United States in terms of growth for the company.

Australians are seen as still being more parochial in their wine preferences than New Zealanders, since 80 per cent of their total wine consumption is their own wine. In NZ, half the wine drunk is from overseas.

Although red wines are a different matter, wine retailers agreed that Australia could not compete with New Zealand white wines.

Simon MacKenzie, owner of The Wine Vault retail wine store in Grey Lynn, Auckland, said it was hard to sell Australian whites.

New Zealanders were strongly parochial about white wines.

But one Australian white wine beat New Zealand on all scores: viognier.

Richard Caro, of Caros Wines in Parnell, Auckland, said New Zealand could not compete with Australia with white wines under $12 and with a few ultra-premium chardonnays, mostly from Western Australia.

Beck said the growth in New Zealand wines was mainly affecting small Australian wineries.