Record month for wine exports

New Zealand Winegrowers is celebrating a double-record breaking month for worldwide exports.

The industry body for winemakers said today that, based on Statistics New Zealand figures, September exports reached 10.8 million litres worth $101.7 million, outstripping all previous monthly volume and value records.

September’s exports were equivalent to about 14.4 million bottles of wine.

New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said exports for the quarter ending September 2008 were $260 million which reflected continuing growth in the demand for New Zealand wine.

Total exports in 1998 were $98 million and Gregan says much of the growth in the past 10 years has come from matching supply with worldwide demand.

He told BusinessDay.co.nz enthusiastic uptake of emerging varieties such as Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir has been driving growth in Australia. This had lifted Australia to our number one export market in August, beating out Britain for the first time.

Sauvignon Blanc continues to our biggest varietal export.

According to the latest results, exports of 3.5 million litres to Australia in September equalled one-third of total export value, or $33.3 million. This was followed by 3.4 million litres to Britain valued at $27.4 million and 2.3 million litres to the United States worth $22.5 million.

Gregan says the wine industry is on track to meet its goal of $1 billion in annual exports by 2010.

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