File photo. Photo: 123rf
Winegrowers say a large wine surplus in Australia will not have a serious impact on New Zealand's wine industry.
A new report by Rabobank said Australia's wine industry had more than 2.8 billion bottles of wine in storage after China put anti-dumping tariffs in place.
NZ Winegrowers chief executive Phillip Gregan said New Zealand winemakers exporting to Australia were unlikely to be affected.
"There's always been very cheap wine available in Australia. We're not selling on price, what we're selling is high quality, highly distinctive, highly sustainable wine, and that's why we're different," he said.
"The wine styles between New Zealand and Australia are very complimentary, so if there's some more competition from Australian wine in our market, we're not going to be complaining about that."
More competition was part of the two-way trade between the countries, and Australian wine already had a significant place in the New Zealand market, Gregan said.
New Zealand wine exports reached a record level this year, with volumes up 20 percent despite problems with extreme weather.
New Zealand Winegrowers said the total value of wine exports for the year ended May was a record $2.3bn, on the back of strong international demand.
