New Zealand Gets Grape Gig

Filed in archive New Zealand Wines on March 22, 2007

New Zealand, land of all kinds of cool stuff like pinot noir has landed a sweet grape deal with some fellow wine makers in the States, Montana to be exact. Makes some sense because while I haven't been to every part of Montana, the few times I made my way through there, I can't say that I ever saw any signs of a vineyard. Now they can have their grapes and make their wine too.

From Central vineyards sell grapes to Montana:

New Zealand's reputation as a world class producer of pinot noir, has resulted in a market being secured for the grape from three Central Otago vineyards.

Montana's chief winemaker Jeff Clarke said the company planned to take about 250 tonne of pinot noir from Clearvue and Gibbston Valley vineyards and from a private grower in the Bannockburn this year, as it looked to position sales of the wine closer to its number one export, sauvignon blanc.

Of the international market for New Zealand wine, 75 percent was in sauvignon blanc.

"As an industry we need to be able to expand beyond that, that's why pinot noir is such an important export area," he said.

While pinot noir Central Otago would never be a mass market, it was certain to help New Zealand's reputation as one of the great wine producers in the world, Mr Clarke said.

This was particularly so as the industry faced a greater demand for its product overseas.