Bulk wine goes down fine, says judge

Very little New Zealand wine is of low quality, says British retailer and wine judge John Avery. Photo / Supplied

An international judge at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards says bulk exports will not affect New Zealand's reputation for quality wine.

Judging for the awards is under way in Auckland this week.

Returning to the panel is British retailer and president of the International Wine and Food Society John Avery, who last took part in the early 1980s.

The New Zealand wine industry is suffering from oversupply, with exports of cheap bulk wine accounting for 23 per cent of exports compared with an historical level of 5 per cent.

There are fears the dumping will devalue New Zealand's brand as a premium producer.

However Avery, who is chairman of wine merchants Averys, said bulk imports of New Zealand wine were not flooding into Britain.

What did reach Britain would be sold by supermarkets under their own label with the fact that it came from New Zealand in small lettering.

"I honestly don't think it's terribly relevant.

"I don't think frankly it will have any effect whatsoever on the reputation of New Zealand wine."

He said customers for this lower-priced product were not discerning wine drinkers, and would probably never otherwise buy New Zealand wine.

Very little New Zealand wine was of low quality anyway, he said.

Averys supplied "bread and butter wine" such as New Zealand sauvignon blanc and pinot noir, which was bottled here under the Averys label.

Asked if New Zealand was still only known for sauvignon blanc, Avery said one of its wines which had sold well lately was a Marlborough chardonnay.

He also confirmed our growing reputation for pinot noir.

"Possibly now among the cognoscenti the pinot noir is becoming more famous than the sauvignon blanc."

He said it was rarer to produce good pinot noir, and while South Africa and Chile grew it those countries did not have the range of New Zealand.

However pinot noir was a more expensive grape to grow because it yielded less, and that meant the wine was relatively expensive.

He said the British market was very price sensitive.

"A few pennies can make the difference between selling 100 cases and selling 1000 cases of a wine.

"So New Zealand pinot noir will never quite achieve the sales volumes of the sauvignon blanc because it's that much more expensive."