New Zealand Wine Exports Making Record Figures

New Zealand’s wine exports hit a record high in the year through end-March reaching more than $1.3 billion, led by rising demand for new-world wines from British, American and Canadian consumers.

The gain was fueled by a bumper harvest in 2013, which has made it possible for New Zealand’s vintners to ramp up wine sales overseas.

“The very robust export performance reflects the continued demand in key markets and increased availability of the wine from the 2013 vintage,” chief executive officer of industry body New Zealand Winegrowers Phillip Gregan said. “We expect further strong growth in the year ahead when the 2014 vintage wines are released” he added.

“Demand for New Zealand wine is really there in international markets and the large crop and anticipated large harvest are allowing exports to still grow in value terms despite a stronger currency,” Rabobank wine analyst Stephen Rannekleiv said.

Demand remains buoyant in international markets because New Zealand wine is widely perceived as premium product rivalling the quality of even that of traditional producer France.

Original article by Neena Rai, The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2014.

Photo by Reuters.