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Te Motu , Murdoch James Estate, ’s zip

led by their iconic sauv blanc, nz vintners keep gaining share

By w. blake gray

ost countries experience ups and downs with exporting to the United States. ’s hot, then it’s not. Argentina’s the Mnext big thing, and then it’s scrambling to maintain shelf space. New Zealand, though, just goes up and up, even with a fresh tidal wave of about to crash on our shores.

New Zealand had a huge in “If you look at the amount of 2014: nearly 30% bigger than its previous consumed in the U.S., it’s about 375 high, which was 2013. That’s a lot of wine million cases,” said David Strada, U.S. to sell, and for most countries it would Marketing Manager for New Zealand mean a challenge, but the market drank Winegrowers. “We’re still less than 2% it up. After a normal-sized 2015 harvest, of the country’s consumption. We’re still this year’s harvest is super-sized again, little New Zealand.” almost as big as 2014. But don’t expect That is certainly the public percep- many discounts. tion, and it doesn’t hurt. In reality, New Last year sales of New Zealand wines Zealand exports more wine than Portugal in the U.S. were up 17% by volume or Argentina. and 18% by value in the stores Nielsen measures. And that’s par for the course. Hobbit Power and Beyond New Zealand exports to the U.S. have “When Sauvignon Blanc started getting nearly quadrupled in volume since 2006, really strong, from about the early 2000’s according to New Zealand Winegrowers. on, at that time, there were the Lord of

There has not been a single year with a the Rings movies,” says Ken Mudford, Photogra p hy courtesy of New Zeala n d W i egrowers or its lice sors dropoff, not even in economic crisis years. Director of Inventory for -Lehmann , Marlborough Photography courtesy of New Zealand Winegrowers or its licensors the countrymust sellmoreofitsother are notSauvignon Blanc,whichmeans nine years.Butmanyofthe plantings its plantedhectaresby50%in thelast is going to end. New Zealand increased margin.” make agood that’s affordableandwe’llbeableto they’re abletomakeaSauvignonBlanc affordable wine.Between$10and$15 caught on.Nottomention,it’s avery New Jersey. “Thattrademarkstylereally a winebuyerforTheWine Libraryin Sauvignon Blanc,”saysTerry Southard, Sauvignon Blanc. New Zealand’s totalworldexportsare to theU.S.iswhite,and86.5%of Noir, 93%oftheKiwiwineexported media attentiontoCentralOtagoPinot are SauvignonBlancs. to Mudford.Amazingly, lessthanhalf in theU.S.,with140SKUs,according New Zealandwinethananywhereelse to NewZealand.Italwayssurprisesme.” it’s amazinghowmanypeoplehave been factor. Whenyoudoanin-storetasting, New Zealand,too.Tourism isamajor some kind. An awful lot ofpeoplevisit being anarticleaboutNewZealandof open theNewYorkTimeswithoutthere Zealand wonatthattime.You couldn’t was theAmerica’s Cup,which New Wines andSpiritsinNewYork. “There T e MataEstate,Hawke’sBay You wonderwhenthatgravytrain “They foundarealnichewiththeir But that’s an aberration. Forall the Sherry-Lehmann mighthavemore industry juststays magical.n on thehorizon, MiddleEarth’s wine Even withnomoreHobbit movies wave toloseitspotencyanytime soon. it’s important.” told it’s important,theydon’t learn regional differences,butifpeoplearen’t was Shiraz,that’s it.Everycountryhas from. Itjustbecameageneralwine. didn’t reallymatterwhere [wine] came was workingthroughitspopularity, it ready demarcatedareas.WhenAustralia it wasMartinborough.Therewereal- was Marlborough.ItNewZealand, tion,” Itkinsays.“ItwasNewZealand,it “They startedwithregionalidentifica- ed winedrinkersfromthebeginning: it “checkedtheboxes”forsophisticat- of backlashthatAustralianwinedidis New Zealand wine hasn’t faced the kind for people.” in NewYork says,“It’s notabigstretch buyer forBottlerocketWine &Spirit but GaryItkin,generalmanagerand completely onAmerica’s radar yet, Noir that can be pricey. They’re not ings) andRiesling,aswellPinot donnay (9%ofthecountry’s plant- last yearalone. wine market,withconsumptionup24% New Zealandhasahealthydomestic export-focused ChileandSouthAfrica, varieties. Thelocalsarehelping—unlike So there’s noreasontoexpectthis In fact,Itkinthinksakeyreasonthat New ZealandmakesexcellentChar -

Palliser Estate,Martinborough Pegasus BayW › Te Mata Cabernet › RiverChardonnay sparklingwine › HuiaBrut › GiesenRiesling › CraggyRange › AmisfieldPinotNoir O › Neudorf › Felton Road › CraggyRange › AtaRangi › SaintClair › Matua › Greywacke › Giesen › DogPoint S producers recommended auvignon Blanc ther inery, W › Rippon Reef › Quartz › Peregrine › VillaMaria › Tohu › SileniEstates › Seresin aipara