New Zealand and Constellation Brands own Sauvignon Blanc

November 9, 4:35 PMInternational Wine ExaminerKevin Lynch

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Paihia, New Zealand -- Proving that money moves mountains, or that enough of it can produce mental shifts in the mind’s of consumers tantamount to plate tectonics, wine behemoth Constellation Brands now has the number one, four & five best selling Sauvignon Blancs in the US.

Constellation Brand is the largest wine producer in the world. The 60 year old company has sales of $3.77 billon, annually. They call themselves the “largest premium wine company in the U.S.”, which is accurate in terms of size but it’s hard to think of some of their products as “premium.” They are also the the biggest in England, Canada and Australia. They would be number one in NZ if it weren’t the pesky Pernod-Ricard NZ.  

Here in New Zealand, Constellation was pleased to announce that homegrown brand, Nobilio Sauvignon Blanc is now the number one selling Sauvignon Blanc in America. In one regional story it was reported that the brand was able to top competitors, Clos du Bois and Kendall-Jackson. Not such great news for K-J but great news for Constellation since it owns Clos du Bois. Rounding out the top-five list is Monkey Bay at four and Kim Crawford at number five. Both are Constellation labels.

The ascent of Nobilio into the number 1 US SB position further solidifies New Zealand’s/Constellation’s hold on the international Sauvignon Blanc market.  

And speaking of Pernod-Ricard, another mountain mover, earlier this year they announced that they no longer wanted a large portion of the Chardonnay crop from the fruit growers they had contracted in Gisborne, NZ.

In essence Pernod-Ricard owns the other, larger, half of the world’s liquor market earning €7.2 annually. (In March of this year they reported an expected a 9% full-year sales increase to put them at the €7.2 billion mark.)

Half of the grapes grown in the Gisborne, famous as a Chardonnay growing region, are sold to the company. At the time of the termination announcement growers were told one of three things: For some the contact will stand; others were given a two year notice; for others it was immediate termination of the contract without compensation.

Managing director of Pernod-Ricard NZ, Fabain Partigliani said that the decision to sever ties with some of their Gisborne Chardonnay growers had to do with waning interest in Chardonnay.

For a more in-depth look at the New Zealand food  & wine scene visit Native Food & Wine. At Native Food and Wine we examine how local and regional ingredients define a place and how people around the world respond, sustain and enjoy themselves in their respective environments