New Zealand wines

However, the country's wine-growing history dates back more than a century: in 1840, when the Treaty of Waitangi formalized New Zealand's integration into the Commonwealth, the first bottle of wine had already been produced. Since the first vineyard was planted on the island in 1819, many immigrants, explorers, and missionaries have contributed to this development. British, French, and Croatian settlers arrived throughout the 19th century to develop viticulture in New Zealand, but the country was hit by cryptogamic diseases affecting vines and phylloxera, which significantly slowed the development of this nascent industry.

It was not until World War II that the wine industry really took off. Import taxes increased and the state facilitated the growth of the sector. In the 1960s and 1970s, New Zealand received massive investments from the United States and Australia, leading to a marked improvement in practices and the quality of wines, which were initially mostly light, fruity, and slightly sweet, based on Muller-Thurgau.

In the 1990s, following the removal of customs barriers on foreign wine imports, the New Zealand wine industry faced competition from Australia. It therefore massively developed its export strategy, growing from NZ$18 million in 1990 to NZ$1.5 billion in 2015. 

New estates were created from the north of the island to Central Otago, and there are now 670 in total.

According to the International Organization of Vine and Wine, in 2015, New Zealand was the 17th largest wine producer (by volume), accounting for nearly 1% of global production.