Good times flowing

Photo / Alan Gibson

Wine bargains are here for at least another year following another bumper grape harvest.

Ideal growing conditions and an increase in the number of vineyards pushed New Zealand's 2009 vintage to 285,000 tonnes - enough to fill 260 million bottles.

With wine made from grapes harvested between February and May hitting the shops now, experts are predicting big savings on top drops.

Liz Wheadon of Glengarry Wines said the quality of the latest crop was high, and bottles normally priced in the mid to late $20 range would sell for as little as $15.

"There are some good deals to be had.

"There will be volume out there to sell."

Liquorland group product manager Andrew Bartley said wine prices were unlikely to rise for at least 18 months to two years, particularly in the sauvignon blanc range.

"The domestic market in New Zealand and Australia will be flooded."

But he didn't think the glut of the grape variety would damage the reputation of the product.

He said the chain was having to sell wine for about 20 to 30 per cent less than usual.

"It's not a good time to be a wine grower or a grape grower.

"The good thing is the consumer is in a really good position to buy good-quality wine at a reasonable price."

There were 30,000 grape-producing hectares in New Zealand for the 2009 vintage, up from 12,000 in 2001.

Simon Templeton, wine buyer for The Mill Liquorsave, said the biggest glut was in Marlborough sauvignon blanc followed by pinot noir and chardonnay.

Marlborough sauvignon blanc accounted for 57 per cent of the total vintage - 161,000 tonnes - up 5 per cent from 2008.

Consumers could have had things even better. The vintage was set to reach 400,000 tonnes before growers and wineries culled some crops.

New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said the industry had banded together to reduce the size of this season's vintage.

"What we've said to the industry is there's no point harvesting grapes that you can't sell. The vast majority of people in the industry agreed to that view."

He said it was "inevitable, like gravity" that prices would come down but predicted that top wineries would sell off surplus under different labels rather than devalue high-quality brands.

"There's definitely some bargains to be had when you're looking at the supermarket shelves."

Wine Marlborough marketing manager Marcus Pickens said the industry hoped the glut would be over within two years.

While it was good news that more people could afford to enjoy better wines, there was a sense that some didn't get the full appreciation of a great product bought cheaply off the supermarket shelf.

"We don't want to be in that space. There's a certain status that comes with price."

A matter of taste

Can you tell your sauvignon blanc from your pinot gris? Your cabernet merlot from your pinot noir?

Don't worry if the answer's no; some people can't even tell the difference between red and white.

We blindfolded four volunteers from Auckland company Compac and asked them to taste six wines - two sauvignon blancs, two pinot noirs and two chardonnays.

One of each cost less than $10, the other $25-plus.

We wanted to find out if people could taste the difference between bargain booze and top-rate tipples - and the results were surprising.

All four thought a Cottage Block chardonnay was a red and one was convinced a pinot noir was a white.

The confusion continued over the cost, with most of the wines in the $25-plus range less popular than those costing under $10.

Kelly Huntley guessed the first wine was a sauvignon blanc but reckoned it was the dearer of the two on offer. She also decided a $7 chardonnay was a $20 red.

Colleague Antony Wraight identified the first and third wines correctly but came unstuck on the Cottage Block.

"I can smell that's a red, it's definitely a red, it's pretty ballsy," he said.

Deana Barnard also struggled with the Cottage Block. "It's got to be a sauvignon blanc, surely by the smell ... no, it's a red. It's not bad but it kind of sucks the moisture out of your mouth."

New Zealand Grape Growers Council president Stuart Smith said there was no shame in not being an expert.

"The great thing about wine is it is a journey that never has an end."