When you look at what the general public associates ‘great wine’ with, you think California, France and Italy. The problem of course is that while you can find good California Wines under $20, it is tough to find a great one. Forget about getting good Italian and French wine in that price point, it simply does not exist. Again, why can places like New Zealand produce wines that compete with a $40 bottle from any of these other areas of the world?

The first thing that you have to consider is the value of the dollar. Right now the United States dollar is very weak against the currency of British Pound and the Euro. That means you are going to pay far more for the same product. When you look at the economy of New Zealand, their currency only accounts for about $.60 of the USD. What this means to the consumer is a lot of value. By the time the wine gets here, you are basically playing the same price as someone from New Zealand would be paying for the bottle right from the vineyard. In other words, the difference in the price of the currency pays for the cost of import and retail markup.

The second reason is the more important one for all of us wine snobs. The growing conditions in New Zealand may not be very favorable for Cabernet and Merlot, but they are excellent for Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find better Sauvignon Blanc’s produced anywhere in the world.

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