Every wine lover is familiar with some of the well-established wine regions in New Zealand, but they may not always have been so well-defined and protected from abuse.
From July 27 new rules govern 18 “geographical indications”. It is far from the complex systems of rules found in the Old World (Italy, France, Spain and Germany above all) so you should not compare it with AOC / AOP.
Hopefully, it will help New Zealand wine producers, especially in less famous regions, to become more well-known. It will certainly also help protect against counterfeiting at home and on the export market.
The 18 regions are:
- Auckland,
- Canterbury,
- Central Hawke’s Bay,
- Central Otago,
- Gisborne,
- Gladstone,
- Hawke’s Bay,
- Kumeu,
- Marlborough,
- Martinborough,
- Matakana,
- Nelson,
- North Canterbury,
- Northland,
- Waiheke Island,
- Waipara Valley,
- Wairarapa and
- Waitaki Valley North Otago.
More regions may come in the future. Read more: nzherald.co.nz
Do you like New Zealand wines? Or are just (at least a little bit) curious? We are planning a wine tour to New Zealand for March 2019. If you are interested in joining us, or just curious, send us an email already now please, so that we can gauge the preliminary interest!
