Price rices inevitable as short vintages creates unprecedented demand says Lanchester Wine's buying director

The shortage of wine from traditional European suppliers as well as New Zealand has resulted in a stampede to the Southern Hemisphere, where unprecedented demand is pushing prices skywards.  

This is according to Lesley Cook, director of purchasing at UK-based Lanchester Wines, who says that in her 30 years in the industry, she has never known such challenging times, with the combination of short harvests, global pandemic and soaring costs all piling on the pressure.  

“Though prices are unlikely to be as high as this year, they will almost certainly be considerably higher than we have been used to in recent years,” she told The Buyer.  “So, even if there’s good news from the next harvest – and we hope there is – we’re still not going to be anywhere near where we were in 2019 or 2020.”  

The cost of shipping has “gone through the roof” she said, while production and sourcing costs are on the up. This year alone even subsidiary goods such as pallets have jumped in price from £7.50 to £19.50, while packaging waste documentation, meanwhile will increase from 2p per case (June 2020) to 15p per case (2022).  

Cook reports that prices for Chilean wines have been “steady” though there has been a “significant” rise in the cost of Sauvignon Blanc, which is now selling between 15% - 18% higher largely due to buyers pivoting from New Zealand.

In Argentina, meanwhile, prices are similar to last year, though Malbec has seen a bit of an uplift. In California, the volume of red wines she describes as “fairly stable” as is pricing, but white wines are in great demand and need to be contracted early.

White Zinfandel is becoming scarcer due to the extensive “grubbing up” carried out in the last few years as a result of dwindling domestic demand. "This has driven pricing up and availability down, but we contracted early for 2021 to secure supply,” she said.  

As for the shortage of supply from Europe, Cook talks of  “unprecedented” demand for Moldova’s Pinot Grigio, where Lanchester has already secured contracts. “We were one of the first in recent years to buy bulk from Moldova but now others are starting to move to Eastern Europe, realising the quality and value on offer.”        

In Australia,  white wines are around the same price as last year, according to Cook, with the reds actually falling due in part to the geopolitical issues which have resulted in reduction in demand from China.  

Even if New Zealand bounces back next year with a plentiful vintage, Cook  says she will not be turning her back on South Africa, as Lanchester is in it for the long haul. “We made a strategic decision to South Africa and made a significant investment in a new brand, Moloko Bay [produced from South African Sauvignon Blanc grapes], so that’s not going anywhere. If supply returns from Marlborough, then we will of course continue with Nika Tiki, as it had been a very popular wine, but there is room for both.        

“When the world is full of wine and everyone is desperate to sell, life is easy, anyone can buy a tank of wine. When the harvest fails, demand increases, earthquakes happen, shipping crises occur and you are hit with a pandemic, then those relationships are truly what saves the day.”