New Zealand

The birth of New Zealand's wine industry can be traced back to 1819, when a British missionary, the Rev. Reverend Samuel Marsden, arrived and planted the first vines on the North Island. Large-scale winemaking didn't really take hold until the 1970s.

New Zealand is famous for its awesome Sauvignon Blanc wines but did you also know that Bordeaux and Rhone grape varieties, like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, as well as Riesling, perform just as well, if not better than Sauvignon Blanc?

The most widely known of the 12 growing regions are Marlborough on South Island and Hawks Bay on North Island.