(Stuff) - New Zealand's strong export market should be able to let wine producers cope with the  2016 vintage, which is shaping up to be larger than last year's.

Michael Cooper said a just released Rabobank report on the size of the vintage was supported by anecdotal evidence from growers he had been speaking with.

However Wine New Zealand said it was not in a position to release any official figures for another month.

Rabobank described this year's vintage as providing volumes which would be "just right".

"Keeping stocks within a manageable range is a perennial challenge for wine producers the world over, and it is certainly one of the greatest challenges that continues to confront the New Zealand wine industry," the report said.

Cooper said the 2014 vintage was a "gigantic" 445,000 tonnes, and some of the wine bottled that year proved hard to sell immediately. In 2015 it fell to 326,000 tonnes.

"There is clearly still some 2014 floating around, but things are reasonably in balance because there's such rapid growth offshore. The salvation is that the industry is so small in international terms that it has the potential to keep growing," Cooper said.

Rabobank said New Zealand wines continued to be in demand in a range of markets, with women and younger generations playing a growing role in choosing them.