Sauvignon blanc producers warned against complacency

1.00pm

The country's sauvignon blanc producers have been warned not to rest on their laurels, despite the current worldwide popularity of their product.

Peter McCombie, a New Zealand master of wine living in Britain, told a Blenheim wine conference the future was positive in the UK, but the "the big producers (France, South Africa and Chile) are starting to take sauvignon seriously".

"There is belief that there is room in an expanding marketplace for them alongside New Zealand, rather than competing against...," he said.

Australian wine writer Tim White said most Aussie punters "bloody love the stuff".

In the United States, sales are up 23 to 24 per cent, compared to flat sales for chardonnay, said American wine judge and writer Gerald Boyd.

He said Californian producers were now looking at their own product and deciding whether they had styles that could compete.

Sauvignon blanc makes up 33 per cent of all New Zealand's plantings. 86 per cent is planted in Marlborough.

The United States, Australia and Britain account for 87 per cent of all exports.

- NZPA