New Zealand crop down

Wines & Vines, June, 2003

* The grape harvest in New Zealand this spring is expected to be 45% lower in volume than last year's, which is a threat to New Zealand's booming export market. In February, the vintage was expected to be down by 25%, but new estimates have put the tonnage even lower.

Philip Gregan, chief executive officer of New Zealand Winegrowers, told justdrinks.com, that current reports made it clear that spring frosts along with cool temperatures during flowering in some regions have combined to push the crop level even lower.

"This emphasizes, once again, the agricultural base of our industry, and the adverse impact that weather events can have on production levels," Gregan said.

Gregan said he expected some of the impact of the decline would be mitigated by the good level of stocks from vintage 2002. On vintage quality, Gregan said it was still far too early to make any definitive comments, but most reports were positive.