The Numbers Game

NZ Winegrowers have just released their Statistical Annual 2008. 50 pages of facts and figures - here are just a few I thought were interesting.

1. Half of all vineyards in NZ are Sauvignon Blanc, about 14000ha and is still growing. The next largest is Pinot Noir with 4650ha, then Chardonnay 3881, with everything else a tiny 1380ha or less. Playing to our strengths or having most of our eggs in the same basket??

2. Just over half of all vineyards in NZ are located in Marlborough. No surprise there I guess.

3. The average cropping level is practically 10 tonnes per hectare !! Surely overcropping for a cool climate region. Blame Sauvignon Blanc and wonder how much better could we be if we tried.

4. Of the nearly 30000 hectares of vineyards in NZ only 917 is Riesling. This seems ridiculously small for a country whose terroir is practically tailor-made for the variety. Even Pinot Gris has overtaken it at 1383ha.

5. NZ has 585 wineries and 90% are small (less than 200000L production).

6. Waipara is NZs fastest growing wine region. No major growth in Central Otago is forecast for the few years.

7. People in New Zealand drink on average only 1 glass of wine per week (approx 11L a year). Really ? Not in my house.

You can pore through the report yourself here.

And the winner is....

A man with a 1000 bottle wine cellar at his home has defeated a man who rarely drinks at all and is about to replace a man who gave up drinking because it was getting the better of him. Sounds like a good result all round then.

Did you know that only American wine is allowed to be served at the Whitehouse. Find out how much you know about wine and US politics by taking the Whitehouse Wine Quiz here.

Marlborough and Sauvignon Blanc

The secret ingredient for great world beating Sauvignon Blanc, according to the video above, is Marlborough. In other words its all about TERROIR. It always is.