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New Zealand's unique climate for grape growing meant it was once seen as the 'France of the Southern Hemisphere'. Now, it's a case of survival of the fittest.

- MICHAEL COOPER

Those were the days. Kiwis, an increasingly worldly-wise bunch after several decades of post-war travel to Europe, were finally getting over their obsession with beer and embarking on a new love affair - with wine. From Northland to Central Otago, baby boomers rushed to buy land, plant grapevines and launch their own boutique wine labels.

That was in the 1990s, the golden era of New Zealand wine. Today, it's survival of the fittest. For many who plunged into the industry 20 or 30 years ago, their dream is in tatters. Sure, they are now in their 60s or 70s, but many younger people don't want their wine. Not just their wine - any wine.

The severity of the challenge facing our 739 wine producers is underlined by the 2024 annual report of industry body, New Zealand Winegrowers. Over the past decade, our annual consumption per capita of all wine (local and imported) shrank from 21.2 litres in 2015 to 14.9 litres last year. Even more dramatically, consumption per capita of domestically produced wine has almost halved-from 13.7 litres to 7.5 litres.

In the 90s, our cool climate for viticulture was seen as a gift of nature that would enable the country to emerge as a prestigious wine producer, a sort of "France of the Southern Hemisphere". Today, many winegrowers worry we are perceived internationally as simply a spring of punchy, affordable sauvignon blancs, exported increasingly in bulk containers and sold under supermarket brands you and I have never heard of.

"There's never been a tougher time to be in the wine business," reports a highly regarded producer in Central Otago. "Everyone has excess inventory and cashflows are very tight. There's no market to sell any excess grapes, which is the way some producers fund some cashflow. Viticultural contractors in our region are telling people to drop the fruit to the ground."