The flip-side of this is that the small, quality-focused producers are being tarred with the brush which the big producers are wielding, which compromises their ability to sell their wine profitably. The Victorian solution is that the Australian wine industry should develop a two-tiered marketing strategy, which clearly distinguishes high quality from commodity wine.
What does this have to do with the winegrowers of Matakana? The New Zealand market has been flooded with commodity wine in recent years, most of which comes from Australia, but some also from Europe and some from New Zealand. As a group, Matakana Winegrowers operate at the top end of the quality continuum, so we are in a similar position to the quality-focused Victorian winegrowers.
We acknowledge the place and role of the mass-produced product. But the fact that most wine sold and consumed in New Zealand is in this category presents us with a challenge. That is, to educate consumers to understand the distinction between wine which is mass-produced to a taste formula, and wine which is unique, hand-made, and bears the stamp of its region of origin, then to seek out the latter for preference.
Given this challenge it is great to be able to report that the support we are getting from the local population and restaurants is strong and continues to grow. The local winegrowers with cellar doors talk about the enthusiastic response they get from tourists to the region, particularly from offshore. Having such a good home base helps us tackle a crowded global market when it comes to selling our wines outside the region.
Robin Ransom
President, Matakana Winegrowers Inc.
robin@ransomwines.co.nz
Originally published in Mahurangi Matters, September 2006
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( 3.1 / 439 )Grape growers and winemakers in the Matakana area have banded together to advance the interests and efforts of the industry in the North Rodney region. “The idea has been tossed around for several years and kicked into touch on a couple of occasions in the past but with the much larger number of growers now represented in the area it is an idea whose time has well and truly arrived" says Robin Ransom, the newly elected president of Matakana Winegrowers Incorporated.
The group held its inaugural AGM at the end of May in conjunction with a well attended end-of-vintage party. An earlier concept meeting had appointed a steering committee which determined a set of objectives. These focus around the idea of establishing credibility for the local region as a winegrowing area. This will involve such things as organising activities designed to ensure best practice in grape growing and wine making, and promoting acceptance of Matakana wines amongst wine consumers.
There are now approaching 30 commercial winegrowing enterprises in the wider Matakana area, and Matakana Winegrowers Inc expects the great majority will join the group. An early activity will be to conduct a census amongst members which will establish the scale of their operations, varieties of grapes grown, numbers of people employed, future plans, and so on. “We expect this will demonstrate that local winegrowers are now very significant players in the economy of the North Rodney region, and that our economic impact will continue to grow in years to come as newer plantings come into production” Robin says.
“Another early task will be to define the boundaries of our local winegrowing appellation, to ensure the regional identity of our wines and integrity in our labeling. This will be required in the future to enable us to export to such places as the EU which itself has very tightly controlled appellations” Robin says. Creating a local appellation will involve determining what constitutes “Matakana” for winegrowing purposes, because at present many of the local winegrowers are located in the wider areas of Ti Point-Omaha-Takatu and Mahurangi-Sandspit. The group expects that similarities in soils, climate and growing conditions will mean that vineyards in all these areas are likely to be included in the appellation.
Matakana Winegrowers Inc expects to work closely with two other high profile local organizations in helping promote the region – Matakana Coast Wine Country, and the Warkworth Visitor Information Centre. Several committee members of the new winegrowers group already serve on the committees of both of these organizations.
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