March 20, 2025 • 6 mins
On a day where we learn the $4.5 billion kiwifruit industry is expecting a record crop (205 million trays) and near-record returns, the wine industry finds itself in a glut, as reducing global consumption will see grapes left unharvested on the vines this season.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's add to blend them. Yes, the wine capital of
the country. Trouble at mill for the wine industry as
the savalanche is about to begin. Claire Blizzard McLean is
our guy there from fruit feed supplies. What are we
going to do with all the grapes this year? Blair?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, good afternoon, Jamie. Well, good point. I mean, as
we've had perfect conditions as we had for growing other crops.
We've had a wonderful winter chill in twenty twenty four,
we had an awesome spring and then a great dry
summer or those I look around the weaver hills, it's
probably a bit too dry. But we have a fairly
big crop of Savian blanc, and most wineries are restricting
(00:41):
growers to what they call their caps, so they'll say
you're only allowed to take say fifteen ton of hectare,
and some growers might have a bit more than that.
They might have twenty, so they'll be leaving five ton
of hectare behind of their fruit, which will have to
be harvested onto the ground. Yeah, a bit of a
worry because savin blanc has obviously down even around the
(01:01):
world as far as drinking out all wine is in general,
growlers are getting paid less per ton. Now. You know,
back a few years ago, I was around that twenty
four hundred for a ton of servon blanc. This year
could average out around eighteen hundred dollars a ton, So
growlers are getting hit sort of both ways, and of
course all their costs are going up as well. So yeah,
(01:22):
it's pretty tough times industry. And the fruit. I've just
been out walking some vines actually with a client, and
the fruit is beautiful and the wine will be delicious.
But they had tough times ahead.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
And yet our wine sales to the US have increased
for the sixteenth year in a row. That's the one
bright light on the horizon, I guess, until Trump puts
a tariff on it.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah. Yeah, So a lot of new markets in the
States fifty two states of course to sell wine into,
and all got their own different different distributors, and Americans
like drinking New Zealand wine in fact, and the around
the tourism here in Marlborough there's a lot of America
and they love coming to the Cloudy Bays or the
Babbage or the Moriscoes and trying their wine at the
(02:05):
fellar doors. So it is. It has been a good,
big potential market, probably more than Asia is for New
Zealand Wine Company, so that has been increasing. But yeah,
there's a wee bit of nervousness around what Donald Trump
will do to the tariffs. We're probably two percent of
the wine consumption worldwide, so I don't imagine we're putting
(02:28):
millions and billions of liters into the States. So hopefully
there's some room that we can just keep ticking our
ticking on our servon blanc into the States.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Why is wine consumption across the globe reducing? Why are
people substituting away from wine?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I think it's probably well, there's there's a big peak
and low alcohol wine, low alcohol beer, low alcohol lollipop drink.
So I think people's health is more important, you know now,
and everyone's looking at what's good. Alcohol's obviously not the best.
Although you know, we always like to have a glass
of wine. I know I do, so I think that's
(03:04):
a fair idea why we're not, you know, wine consumption
is down, people looking at other alternatives. Maybe also the
gin the new gen coming through. I know my daughters
don't drink a lot of wine. They're until these pre mix,
boker things and all that sort of stuff. So yeah,
just maybe that new gen us. Old fellas who like
drinking like you, Jamie the Cougar juice are probably getting
(03:25):
older and well.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
I think you're Pitcheon holding me there. I'm I'm flexible.
I'm flexible in my drinking habits. Are we seeing a
move from red wine to white wine around the world,
because if we are, that bodes well for New Zealand
because most of our exports are white wine.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, that's right, seventy five percent sevy on blanc. And
then there's a feen agree and chardona of course, which
New Zealand produced beautiful chardonnaise as well, especially in the
Hawks Bay. Yeah. I haven't seen those stats, but I
mean there's lots of red in Australia, of course, in
their industry has been in a lot of trouble after
losing a billion was worth of business to China. As France,
(04:04):
you know, there's still a lot of reds around them.
I haven't seen the numbers, but hopefully there is, because
that does bode well for New Zealand and Servan Blanc.
I don't think the bubbles burst. We have lots of
people talk about she's all over for sev on blanc,
but I don't believe that's the case. There's a pro
wine on in Germany right now, Jamien. There's lots of
our wine companies over there and they're having great success.
(04:24):
They've got awesome labels and there's heaps of people they're
wanting to taste and buy our wine.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Just to finish on, I'm going to ask you about
the possibility of growing Kiwi fruit in Marlborough because Zesprey's
just come out. They're forecasting a record crop of two
hundred and five million trays, beating last year's record of
one hundred and ninety million trays. I remember, not that
long ago it was one hundred and forty five million trays.
(04:51):
The Kiwi fruit industry is worth four point five billion
to us. I think wine to be fair is over
a billion. But will you see potentially some grape vines
being ripped out and replaced with Kiwi fruit vines, because
I'm hearing that, for instance, Tapooki they have some trouble.
It's getting a bit warm. They may not get the
winter chill needed. That won't be a problem in Marlborough.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah, good point, Jamie. Yeah, there is ky fruit used
to be grown in Marlborough, probably many many years before
I got here, like you know, in their late eighties,
even and Rapara Road and the Golden Mile we call
it was full of summer fruit, cherries, apricots, apples, and
Marlbury used to grow lots of those successfully because you
have the great warm summers and the cold winters. So
(05:34):
Kiwi fruit would work absolutely down here. And there's been
lots of chatter about other crops. We here in Malbourn
need to grow more food and be diverse vine into
Kiwi fruit, apples, cherries, Kiwi berries a whole lot. So
there's certainly a lot of talk about that. We would
(05:55):
like to sort of help along those lines and get
zespri down here and some fruit Zealand and apple and
pier and talk to growls and have some some workshops
and make that happen. But yeah, it's just that some
of the setup costs are up here, so growls will
just have to be prepared to pay.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Blair Blizzard, McLean, thanks for your time today on the
Country listeners. You need to do your bit for the
New Zealand wine industry. I don't want to encourage alcoholism
but a nice glass of wine with dinner will go
a long way to supporting our local industry. Thanks for
your time.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
No problem, Jamie. Go the Highlanders against the Reds this weekend.
Go to the Mighty Islander.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Good on your blizzard. You go the Mighty Highlanders.
Let's add to blend them. Yes, the wine capital of
the country. Trouble at mill for the wine industry as
the savalanche is about to begin. Claire Blizzard McLean is
our guy there from fruit feed supplies. What are we
going to do with all the grapes this year? Blair?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, good afternoon, Jamie. Well, good point. I mean, as
we've had perfect conditions as we had for growing other crops.
We've had a wonderful winter chill in twenty twenty four,
we had an awesome spring and then a great dry
summer or those I look around the weaver hills, it's
probably a bit too dry. But we have a fairly
big crop of Savian blanc, and most wineries are restricting
(00:41):
growers to what they call their caps, so they'll say
you're only allowed to take say fifteen ton of hectare,
and some growers might have a bit more than that.
They might have twenty, so they'll be leaving five ton
of hectare behind of their fruit, which will have to
be harvested onto the ground. Yeah, a bit of a
worry because savin blanc has obviously down even around the
(01:01):
world as far as drinking out all wine is in general,
growlers are getting paid less per ton. Now. You know,
back a few years ago, I was around that twenty
four hundred for a ton of servon blanc. This year
could average out around eighteen hundred dollars a ton, So
growlers are getting hit sort of both ways, and of
course all their costs are going up as well. So yeah,
(01:22):
it's pretty tough times industry. And the fruit. I've just
been out walking some vines actually with a client, and
the fruit is beautiful and the wine will be delicious.
But they had tough times ahead.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
And yet our wine sales to the US have increased
for the sixteenth year in a row. That's the one
bright light on the horizon, I guess, until Trump puts
a tariff on it.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah. Yeah, So a lot of new markets in the
States fifty two states of course to sell wine into,
and all got their own different different distributors, and Americans
like drinking New Zealand wine in fact, and the around
the tourism here in Marlborough there's a lot of America
and they love coming to the Cloudy Bays or the
Babbage or the Moriscoes and trying their wine at the
(02:05):
fellar doors. So it is. It has been a good,
big potential market, probably more than Asia is for New
Zealand Wine Company, so that has been increasing. But yeah,
there's a wee bit of nervousness around what Donald Trump
will do to the tariffs. We're probably two percent of
the wine consumption worldwide, so I don't imagine we're putting
(02:28):
millions and billions of liters into the States. So hopefully
there's some room that we can just keep ticking our
ticking on our servon blanc into the States.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Why is wine consumption across the globe reducing? Why are
people substituting away from wine?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I think it's probably well, there's there's a big peak
and low alcohol wine, low alcohol beer, low alcohol lollipop drink.
So I think people's health is more important, you know now,
and everyone's looking at what's good. Alcohol's obviously not the best.
Although you know, we always like to have a glass
of wine. I know I do, so I think that's
(03:04):
a fair idea why we're not, you know, wine consumption
is down, people looking at other alternatives. Maybe also the
gin the new gen coming through. I know my daughters
don't drink a lot of wine. They're until these pre mix,
boker things and all that sort of stuff. So yeah,
just maybe that new gen us. Old fellas who like
drinking like you, Jamie the Cougar juice are probably getting
(03:25):
older and well.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
I think you're Pitcheon holding me there. I'm I'm flexible.
I'm flexible in my drinking habits. Are we seeing a
move from red wine to white wine around the world,
because if we are, that bodes well for New Zealand
because most of our exports are white wine.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, that's right, seventy five percent sevy on blanc. And
then there's a feen agree and chardona of course, which
New Zealand produced beautiful chardonnaise as well, especially in the
Hawks Bay. Yeah. I haven't seen those stats, but I
mean there's lots of red in Australia, of course, in
their industry has been in a lot of trouble after
losing a billion was worth of business to China. As France,
(04:04):
you know, there's still a lot of reds around them.
I haven't seen the numbers, but hopefully there is, because
that does bode well for New Zealand and Servan Blanc.
I don't think the bubbles burst. We have lots of
people talk about she's all over for sev on blanc,
but I don't believe that's the case. There's a pro
wine on in Germany right now, Jamien. There's lots of
our wine companies over there and they're having great success.
(04:24):
They've got awesome labels and there's heaps of people they're
wanting to taste and buy our wine.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Just to finish on, I'm going to ask you about
the possibility of growing Kiwi fruit in Marlborough because Zesprey's
just come out. They're forecasting a record crop of two
hundred and five million trays, beating last year's record of
one hundred and ninety million trays. I remember, not that
long ago it was one hundred and forty five million trays.
(04:51):
The Kiwi fruit industry is worth four point five billion
to us. I think wine to be fair is over
a billion. But will you see potentially some grape vines
being ripped out and replaced with Kiwi fruit vines, because
I'm hearing that, for instance, Tapooki they have some trouble.
It's getting a bit warm. They may not get the
winter chill needed. That won't be a problem in Marlborough.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah, good point, Jamie. Yeah, there is ky fruit used
to be grown in Marlborough, probably many many years before
I got here, like you know, in their late eighties,
even and Rapara Road and the Golden Mile we call
it was full of summer fruit, cherries, apricots, apples, and
Marlbury used to grow lots of those successfully because you
have the great warm summers and the cold winters. So
(05:34):
Kiwi fruit would work absolutely down here. And there's been
lots of chatter about other crops. We here in Malbourn
need to grow more food and be diverse vine into
Kiwi fruit, apples, cherries, Kiwi berries a whole lot. So
there's certainly a lot of talk about that. We would
(05:55):
like to sort of help along those lines and get
zespri down here and some fruit Zealand and apple and
pier and talk to growls and have some some workshops
and make that happen. But yeah, it's just that some
of the setup costs are up here, so growls will
just have to be prepared to pay.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Blair Blizzard, McLean, thanks for your time today on the
Country listeners. You need to do your bit for the
New Zealand wine industry. I don't want to encourage alcoholism
but a nice glass of wine with dinner will go
a long way to supporting our local industry. Thanks for
your time.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
No problem, Jamie. Go the Highlanders against the Reds this weekend.
Go to the Mighty Islander.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Good on your blizzard. You go the Mighty Highlanders.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!