Great wine pull

1986

Government pays out to remove vines due to wine glut. Growers took the opportunity to plant Phylloxera resistant root stock and popular varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc

Higher sales tax on local wine forced up prices, and in the tight economy of the mid-1980s, wine drinkers were reluctant to buy. Bumper vintages saturated the market, so big producers slashed prices. The smaller family-run wineries suffered in the price war, and some went out of business. Even major producers struggled: Villa Maria, which had bought Hawke’s Bay producer Vidal’s in 1976, went into receivership in 1985.

A glut of lower-quality wine led to the government, in 1986, paying growers to pull out their vines. Up to 25% of the national vineyard was uprooted, mostly around Gisborne and in Hawke’s Bay. Production slowed, and it was not until 1993 that the area in vines reached the pre-1986 level.

While the Government paid growers to pull vines, it placed no restrictions on new plantings, and many growers used the money to replace less desirable varieties with more marketable ones, including Sauvignon Blanc.

Source

Bronwyn Dalley, 'Wine - Foundations for the future, 1960s to mid-1980s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/wine/page-5 (accessed 21 April 2023)