Depending on your viewpoint, NZ bumper crop can be called good or bad

• From Stuff.co.nz

A bumper year for the country's grape growers could be great news for wine buyers, but not vineyards.

Good growing conditions mean that this year's harvest might exceed 300,000 tons, raising the possibility of another wine glut and a tough year for wineries.

Oversupply has threatened to damage the value of New Zealand wines in key export markets since a bumper harvest in 2008. Grape prices subsequently slumped and, with them, profits.

Now, "Vintage 2010," a state-of-the industry report by Deloittes and New Zealand Winegrowers, warns that although last year's reduced vintage went some way to alleviating problems caused by previous bumper harvests, the 2011 harvest could exceed 300,000 tons, adding to the industry's woes.

That warning is backed up by the producers of Oyster Bay wines, Delegat's, who said the wine surplus would continue to cause headaches for the next two years.

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