Vineyard Monitoring Report
Lower yields and a reduced grape price for Sauvignon Blanc, along with a 6% rise in operating expenses, saw a major fall in profitability in the Marlborough vineyard model in 2023/2024.
Tim says what was once a valuable nice-to-have is now an increasingly essential part of doing business in wine. “SWNZ has morphed from being for ‘us’, the Kiwi growers and wineries, to being necessary in the perception of the gatekeepers to the wine drinkers of the world.” That means the industry needs to “pivot” to ensure it remains relevant in market, he says. “We need to morph the purpose of SWNZ to allow us to get used to the question of ‘who is SWNZ for?’ The members or the wine drinkers of the world?”
There are myriad challenges ahead, including the substantial task of tackling Scope-3 emissions, but New Zealand has already come a very long way, says Tim, who’s seen bottle weights plummet from between 645-560g 20 years ago, to 417-390g today “This is not the case in some of our big export markets, where they are starting with heavy bottles, and so the noise from them is loud,” he says. “We should be very proud of the progress we have made.” Demand for packaging alternatives means WineWorks recently installed a bag-in-box facility. The industry has been open to change and is already out on the “leading edge” when it comes to sustainability, Tim says. “We’ve been leading the way for many years.”
The Environment Committee plans to build on the “things that matter” and lighten the administrative load on members, such as removing duplicate requirements, he says. They will also “grapple with” the coalition Government’s attitude to Freshwater Farm Plans and gene modification, “so our agenda will be full over the next couple of years”.
WineWorks, which is SWNZ certified, started focusing on its environmental footprint more than 15 years ago, when wineries like Yealands were being “loud and proud about their aspirations”, and needed suppliers to be on the same journey, Tim says. The company became net Toitū carbonzero in December 2023, having reduced or eliminated emissions, wherever possible, and purchased carbon offsets for any remaining emissions. “WineWorks has been determined to support our clients achieve their goals.”
