New Zealanders buying international wines trends up in 2013

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New Zealanders buying international wines trends up in 2013
as tastes become more adventurous and with increasing diversity of world cuisines in restaurants

Online wine retailer Rewined observes near 50% increase in imported wine volumes in the past 12 months with Chile, South Africa and Australia showing the most growth

AUCKLAND, Tuesday 25th February, 2014– Auckland based online-only wine retailer Rewined www.rewined.co.nz has noted an interesting trend in the buying habits of Kiwi wine drinkers. Their analysis of the differences between wine purchasing numbers from 2012 to 2013 shows an almost 50% increase in the number of New Zealanders buying wine from international producers.

Shannon Lawrence, Rewined’s Operations Manager, says some of this increase is a reaction to lower supply from the smaller 2012 vintage, which has led to bulk imports which are then bottled here and sold under generic grocery labels.

“However there’s also an increase in volumes of premium bottled wines, this is probably more a reflection on consumers’ tastes becoming more adventurous,” says Lawrence. “It also indicates the growing diversity of world cuisines in New Zealand restaurants. In the last couple of years we’ve seen a big increase in the number of eateries specialising in things like Spanish tapas, South-East Asian cuisines, Southern style, Tex-Mex and South American foods. Kiwis love trying something new and exotic, whether it’s good wine or food.”

According to Rewined’s analysis, 40.892 million litres of wine was imported to New Zealand in 2013 compared with just 27.331 million litres in 2012. The countries that showed the most growth over the past twelve months were Chile, South Africa and Australia. Italian and Argentinian varieties also saw an increase in online wine sales in New Zealand in this period.
Lawrence says she expects to see both Spanish and American wines to continue to grow in popularity, especially Spanish reds which can share similar characteristics to New Zealand made examples of Syrah and Pinot Noir. Overall she anticipates the move to buying international fine wines by New Zealand consumers will increase in the future.

About Rewined www.rewined.co.nz
Rewined is an online only wine shop selling mid to premium wines dedicated to making the wine buying process easy, fun and approachable. It is reaching educated, internet-savvy professionals, 35-50 years old, whose love of wine matches their love of food, friends and occasions. The site avoids complicated, technical information and enables people to find the best wines to suit their occasion, tastes and budget, using a guided search function.

The company was established in 2013 and is part of the Windhaven Investments portfolio.

ENDS

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