NZ unable to slake American thirst for top-quality wine

By Rosaleen Macbrayne

TAURANGA - The United States promises to be a huge market for New Zealand wines, says Tauranga winemaker Steve Bird, who is already spreading his wings there.

America takes about 120,000 cases a year from this country, but recent promotion by Montana Wines created awareness of New Zealand's highly talented wine industry and opened the floodgates, he says.

Mr Bird left yesterday for San Francisco to launch his new Thornbury label.

Specialising in Hawkes Bay chardonnays, Marlborough sauvignon blancs and Merlot-based Bordeaux blends, Thornbury's first vintage has produced 4000 cases, 75 per cent of which has been snapped up in the United States.

The rest was held back for customers here.

Although he is on a two-week visit to establish a sustainable marketing programme in the United States, Mr Bird admits there is no hope of really meeting the demand there.

Thornbury is aimed at the top end of the market and the production target is 15,000 cases annually within five years.

Mr Bird is former chief winemaker for Morton Estate at Katikati. He spent 20 years working in the industry in New Zealand, Australia and France before starting his own company.

He buys contract fruit from reputable growers in Hawkes Bay and Marlborough and has the juice sent to his leased winemaking premises in Tauranga.

The international award-winning winemaker lives at Papamoa Beach and has no plans to abandon the Western Bay of Plenty lifestyle, even though it is not an appropriate area for grape growing.

After a 12-month search, Mr Bird has bought 8ha of prime Hawkes Bay land where, he says, the soil and climate are probably the best available in New Zealand for the production of prime red wines.

But building an elegant winery is not a priority. Mr Bird would rather that every last centimetre of the vineyard was planted in grapes because the land is far too valuable to be covered in concrete.

He insists he is not pretentious about his wine - with not a lot to go around, Thornbury chardonnay and merlot sell for between $25 and $30 a bottle, and the sauvignon blanc is close to $20.

He describes it as craft manufacturing, not mass production. It has, he says, "added value, not snob value."