Some of New Zealand’s prized vineyards are counting the cost of the country’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake with millions of litres of wine lost and estimates that up to a fifth of storge vats have been damaged. With the 2017 grape harvest only months away, the New Zealand government has stepped in to aid the affected wineries in prime sauvignon blanc country, and a NZ Wine Response Team has been established. Marlborough is world-renowned for its sauvignon blanc production, with 70% of the New Zealand wine industry located in the region. “The Marlborough wine industry faces some challenges,” said economic development minister Steven Joyce, who has twice met with affected wineries in the region since the quake, of which there are 140. We are lucky it is not worse.”A report on the quake damage from NZ Winegrowers puts wine losses at just over 2% for the region, which produces 200 million litres of wine every year.

Source: The Guardian November 30, 2016 06:11 UTC