While cool weather during flowering has been blamed on a smaller than expected New Zealand grape harvest in 2001, the country has still managed to increase its production of its key varieties, pinot noir and sauvignon blanc, thanks to a 41% increase in production at Marlborough. While riesling was also cropped at record levels, harvests of chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and merlot were 28%, 27% and 37% below 2000 levels. The total crop of 71,000 tonnes was 9,100 tonnes below last year’s intake. While Marlborough’s crop was up a massive 41% to 36,962 tonnes, Hawkes Bay and Gisborne were down by 54% and 41% respectively.
