The much anticipated 2018 harvest in New Zealand has certainly lived up to the pre- vintage hype with a fast and furious onset of ripening and the annual mad scramble to harvest and process the principal variety from the Marlborough Region Sauvignon Blanc.
With circa 85% of the nation’s crush being made up of Marlborough savvy the pressure on the front end receival capacity is always a challenge and a fascinating and unique study in producing a high value, low volume (in global terms) light bodied aromatic white wine.
With one regional variety dominating the harvest landscape the region relies on both rapid harvesting & destemming and juice clarification technology arguably more than any other region internationally. This challenge is commonly referred to as “front end capacity” and as a key performance indicator for most wine businesses dominates discussion throughout the industry.
Established in 1997, New Zealand Wineries is the industry’s only independent contract processing (also known as contract crush) and commercial winemaking company located in the middle of the Marlborough region. With many highly recognisable clients ranging from multinational corporate to small boutique in size New Zealand Wineries has both the specialist knowledge and technical capability gained over the exponential growth of the Kiwi industry over the past 20 years.
New Zealand Wineries has the capability to provide short to long term bespoke winemaking services that are individually designed to fit within clients commercial and technical requirements.
With a strong company culture focussed on enhancing long term value for all stakeholders New Zealand Wineries is exceptionally well placed to continue its service to the industry in line with the growth expectations.
