In stark contrast to the 10,000+ wines entered at the International Wine Challenge in London each year, just 1489 wines were entered in this country's pre-eminent awards.
For those unfamiliar with Metcalfe, he is one of the six co-chairmen of the International Wine Challenge. The London-based competition has six chairmen; two of which are New Zealanders.
Master of Wine Sam Harrop, a Kiwi, has been on the IWC panel for several years now and from next year will be joined by fellow Kiwi Master of Wine, Peter McCrombie. The other four panel members are British.
"The Kiwis are both extremely good wine tasters; Peter is now one of the most widely employed restaurant consultants in London and the spread of judges is good. Derek Smedley MW is very widely travelled and very into the traditional London wine scene but he is very young mentally and is an excellent person to have on the team. Of the others, Oz Clarke is a genius and Tim Atkin MW is brilliant, so it's a strong team," says Metcalfe.
Since he was last in New Zealand, nearly a decade ago, Metcalfe has noticed significant changes in the style of this country's wines.
"New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs have improved. The knowledge of how to make good Sauvignon has very much been fined down and has got more precise. But I think it's sad that you've got a few more vines in the ground than would be good for you, so we have come to see New Zealand Sauvignons in the UK at prices that are a lot lower than they should be. I know people know that but it's really not good," Metcalfe says.
"For many years New Zealand was out there by itself in terms of price per bottle sold, but that's been dumbed down by prices of own-label supermarket Sauvignon, so it's fallen a bit, which is a great pity because it didn't need to.
"I understand why it's happened. Farmers chase the sexy crop; sheep aren't good at the moment, so some will think 'let's try grapes instead'. The difficult thing about grapes is that it's a commitment of at least three or four years before you can really think about pulling them out again and in the meantime you may not make much money.
"Having said that, it's exciting to see the emergence of the new class of New Zealand reds. We in the trade know that New Zealand Pinot Noir is lovely and you've got, I think, good distinct regional styles emerging between Central Otago, Marlborough and Martinborough – and possibly Canterbury, off to the side."
Aside from Pinot Noir, Metcalfe was surprised by the high quality of Hawke's Bay Merlot.
"It's actually very difficult to make good Merlot, let alone great Merlot. Maybe Hawke's Bay is one of those places that can do it."
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ■
