Wine production in New Zealand started back in 1819 but just entered the world’s radar for wines when in 1985 Cloudy Bay winery produced an exquisite Sauvignon Blanc. Since then, New Zealand wines have been opened to the world.
Grapes grown in New Zealand have to cope with cool air coming from the ocean as no land in this country is farther than 75 miles from the coast. The most widely grown grapes in the country are Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. Wines are produced in the two main islands of New Zealand. In the north island, Hawke’s Bay is known to be the best area for grape growing as it has more sunlight than any other region.
New Zealand is famous for its white wines, specially the ones made of Sauvignon Blanc and some wine tasters consider it the best Sauvignon Blanc worldwide but lately the production of other grape varietals has also increased in popularity, this are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
New Zealand also produces sparkling wines following Champaign traditional method. Marlborough is the wine region where production of sparkling wine started and still produces high quality sparkling wines nowadays.
Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough are the main wine producing areas in New Zealand. Hawke’s Bay, being the second largest, offers a wide variety of soil types allowing wine production of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah among others. The first vines where cultivated in Marlborough region towards the end of the 20th century and thanks to their production of Sauvignon Blanc the region gained a favourite place in the world’s preferred wine regions. Nowadays, this is the biggest wine region in New Zealand.
New Zealand wine growers is the national organisation for New Zealand’s wine producing sector. New Zealand offers a good variety of climates and landscapes, having its wine regions in climates that range from the Bordeaux type to the southern Spain temperatures. The number or wineries in the country is growing each year, being of 238 in 1996 and reaching already a number over 600 in 2009.
