News from the Marlborough Express that some growers who, having had their fruit rejected by the wineries, have banded together to produce a bulk wine rather than let their fruit go to the ground. This is yet another twist in what is turning out to be quite a major shift in the NZ wine industry. The article goes on to say how , despite having thinning their crop twice, the winery rejected the fruit as the crop load was still too high. The winery limit was 12 tonnes per hectare whilst the grower had 19 tonnes per hectare. Read more here.
Both these figures astonish me. 19 tonnes! or 15 for that matter. We crop here around 5 which is the oft quoted mark for quality fruit both here and in Europe. How can the NZ industry and image, which is made up of more than 50% Sauvignon Blanc, survive on poor quality fruit ? Especially with a fickle world market that is starting (supposedly) to tire of the style.
This article also highlights the fact that wineries and growers have been operating in a them-and-us situation for too long. Overcropping and overcharging for fruit in demand but after the a year like 2008 the boot has gone onto the other foot with prices plummeting and huge amounts of fruit going to waste. Wineries and growers need to move beyond the price-per-tonne model to a more inclusive win-win level of cropload/price structuring. Just don't ask me what that is. But one thing is for sure, the tough times are not over and change is inevitable.
3 comments:
In January of each year we meet with our Pinot Gris grower and between us we decide on what we want and what he wants. We decide on a set price for the whole vineyard and so, within reason, we are able to organise the final crop load. The grower knows exactly how much money he will be getting and we can work on the crop level that we want. We get the fruit quality that we want, consistently each harvest and he doesn't feel like he is geting ripped off. Works well for both of us.
Except for the anonymous comment there is no mention of the word "quality".
In the article I meant.
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