Wow..fight for market share down under gets nasty

Wineries and journalist trashing NZ wines in effort to curb competition in OZ:

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/australian-wine-industry-slams-new-zealands-sauvig/1741942/

Sampling a glass of Australia’s top selling white wine, an Oyster Bay sauvignon blanc, Hunter Valley wine-maker Bruce Tyrrell told SMH’s Rick Feneley it tasted of “passionfruit … body odour … cat’s pee … lantana”.

Stuart Gregor, from Liquid Ideas PR agency, used to promote Marlborough’s Montana and Stoneleigh wines, but now describes Kiwi sav as a “one trick pony”, while others in the Australian wine industry interviewed by the SMH labelled New Zealand’s savs as “one-dimensional” and “generic”.

My wife and I drink more NZ SBs than all other white wines combined. Not to disparage other whites, but I think the NZ SB wines represent excellent values generally. It is only a matter of time before producers of white wine in other regions make wines that are more fruit-forward than they have traditionally done…rightly or wrongly, competition from NZ will drive this trend.

I sell wine here in Oregon and NZ Sauv Blanc is certainly one of my favorites. Just last week I tasted through the Oyster Bay line up including 2012 Sauv Blanc. I think it was the best Oyster Bay vintage I have had, I would also comment that it is probably a function of the 2012 vintage for Marlborough Sauv Blanc. I have tasted about 8 so far from 2012 and they consistently are showing to me to be an excellent vintage. They have the common thread of being racy and more length to them. So far my favorite is 2012 from Jules Taylor.

Has the Marlborough ever had bad SB vintage? Whether one likes NZ SB or not, it might be the most consistant region in the world.

To those who have some experience with NZ sauvignon blanc and other regions’ efforts, can the Kiwi wines ever approach (or have they already) the complexity of a great Sancerre?

No.

But the people drinking it are not looking for complexity…

Which kind of alludes to the premise of the whole argument.

Maybe McDonalds can start serving Yellow Tail and NZ SB at their restaurants [cheers.gif]

It has been getting nasty for a while since the Australians are consuming more and more NZ wine while the market for domestic wines shrinks during a time of overproduction. This is the worst I have seen so far, though. I find it deplorable to knock NZ SB in that way when there is so much else to like about NZ wines (from other regions), given how similar it is to the generalizations about Oz wines (it’s all Barossa Shiraz) that have played a part in their downfall. And knocking Oyster Bay SB as the top seller is almost like writing a TN for a Yellowtail wine and forming generalizations based on that.

Well a lot of lower quality NZ SB entered the market recently as a result of lots of new plantings and a very heavy crop. Many were sold in cleanskin and would not fit the description of “consistent quality” unless you are comparing to a BigMac.

Lots of Aussies drink Kiwi Savvy and lots of Kiwis drink ripe Aussie reds. So?

I have tasted a few that were not very good. I chalked it up to poor winemaking. What constitutes an overly heavy crop for SB from your POV?

ENTIRELY different animal - and market -

If there was an area in France that could compete with New Zealand - it’s Bergerac - I’ve had some wonderfully fruit forward Sauvignons from the land of Cyrano -

First off I think that there are specific producers who make the best wine for any given vintage, just like any other area. I have certainly tasted my share of just average Sauv Blancs. There are also some that are consistently better than most. It also depends on the flavor profile you enjoy. I certainly like the more agressive and full flavored examples with good acidity. For me the 2012 vintage seems to stand out from the last several vintages. I have tasted about 8 and there seems to be a bump up of quality for them.

I drink Sancerre personally, and generally avoid all other sauvignon blancs. I tasted some decent Chilean examples last year though. The NZ bottlings I’ve had were just incredibly disappointing, for the most part.

I spent a month in a Southern Styrian village that my wife chose as a holiday. Gee I was upset. Sav blanc country. Yet the wines were masterful. I loathed sav blanc prior to that having been weened on Kiwi stuff- the exception being better examples of Sancerre/Pouilly-Fumé. These Austrian sauvignon blancs are ageworthy, complex and interesting. A Kiwi sav blanc finishes with nothing more than alcoholic warmth- the Austrians have an amazing minerality from the ancient soils. Great stuff! They consider themselves an export success if they have a wine on a NYC restaurant winelist. So they probably aren’t widely seen.