N.Z. wine gets write-up in ‘The Times’

Press, 16 July 1980, Page 5

N.Z. wine gets write-up in ‘The Times’

By

KEN COATES

in London

Once the very idea of a New Zealand wine selling in Britain would have been. ' greeted with mirth, derision, or both. But now it merits inclusion in a supplement on wines in “The Times," even though it is coupled with wines from Australia. The British wine buyer is described as one of the most assiduously courted consumers in the world, being offered the, enormously varied products of 30 wine-producing 'countries. Mr John Avery, chairman of Avery and Company, notes that New Zealand is a comparative newcomer to the European wine scene. Although New Zealand has been producing wine for 100 years, production even now is scarcely enough to satisfy home consumption he says. If it were not for the interest shown by companies such as McWilliams and Cooks, few would be exported. But he says, quite a wide range of red and white wines is available in Britain. As in Australia,- great improvements have been made in quality in recent years, Mr Avery says. These result from the planting and use of quality grape varieties. “The weather is an im-

portant factor in wine production "nd there are many parts of New Zea--1 land where conditions are I , similar to those prevailing > in the quality regions of i Europe,” he says. “Particularly exciting results are timg produced - in Marlborough,” says Mr Avery. I Plant quarantine is also strict in New Zealand, so ; the introduction of new > vine material is slow, he 1 says. But at the present rate of progress, fairly 1 large quantities of quality ‘ wines should be available for export in the not too distant future. “The standard of wines winning gold and top silver awards under the ,ex- > acting conditions of the | annual New Zealand national wine judging I ■■■■■■ ■ ■

show the potential is there.” Discussing Australian wine exported to Britain, Mr Avery cites the marketing of vine in 4| litre or bigger packs, consisting of a collapsible plastic bag surrounded by a cardboard box — the wine being dispensed from a special tap. These are being sold in Britain under the name of Botany Bay. "It seems a retrograde step,” comments Mr Avery, who is a master of wine, t “that having got away from names such as Emu Burgundy Chateau Down Under, and Big Tree Burgundy, we should be reverting to this Australiana nomenclature. It is. reported that even Kanga Rouge has been marketed in recent years.”