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Biosecurity Planning Workshops
30 April - 26 June
nzwine.com/members/sustainability/biosecurity/swnz
All Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand vineyard members will need to have a biosecurity plan in place by 30 June 2026. The New Zealand Winegrowers biosecurity team is holding workshops around the country between 30 April and 26 June this year to give vineyard owners tools and knowledge to develop a robust biosecurity plan tailored to their site.
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Grape Days 2025 |
Grape Days 2025
Central Otago: 5 June
Marlborough: 10 June
Hawke's Bay: 12 June
nzwine.com/grape-days
Join Bragato Research Institute (BRI) at Grape Days 2025 for the latest grape and wine research. This year's programme will delve into gene technology, the Roadmap to Net Zero, Next Generation Viticulture, plant protection, Pinot Noir and more. More information including the programme and tickets will be available at nzwine.com/grape-days.
Scientific Research Conference
9 June
mrc.org.nz/nzwc-scientific-research-conference
The New Zealand Wine Centre 2025 Scientific Research Conference, to be held at the Wine Centre in Blenheim this winter, will explore cutting-edge wine and viticulture science from a range of New Zealand research providers. Dr Stewart Field, from Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, says the event is a chance to delve into developments from established scientists and emerging PhD and masters students. It's also fertile ground for forming science partnerships. As an example, Dr Amanda Dupas de Matos, from the Food Experience and Sensory Testing (Feast) Laboratory, has been awarded more than $100,000 from the Massey-Lincoln Agriculture Industry Fund to explore the impact of thiols in white wines. The project, titled Realising the Potential of Thiols in White Wines: Sensory Consumer Responses and Chemical Characterisation, is a collaborative effort between Massey University, Lincoln University, and Bragato Research. Amanda says the idea was initiated in November 2023 at the New Zealand Wine Centre Scientific Research Conference, where Professor Paul Kilmartin from the University of Auckland connected her with Dr Leandro Dias Araujo from Lincoln, then Ngarita Warden from BRI. "After plenty of discussions, we are excited to see this research come to life."
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Rajat Parr |
Organic & Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference
16 - 18 June
organicwineconference.com
The Organic & Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference brings together industry experts from around New Zealand and across the globe to examine topics including climate change, water ecology, biodiversity, soil health, biodynamics and regenerative viticulture. The 2025 event will acknowledge the traditions of Matariki and the winter solstice, with themes of under the earth, above the ground, and into the sky - ki raro, ki runga, ki te rangi. Speakers include Joseph Brinkley, Director of Regenerative Organic Farming at Bonterra Organic Estates in the United States; Rajat Parr, renown organic winegrower in the United States; and Katia Nussbaum, who runs a regenerative organic winery in southern Tuscan with her husband Luigi.
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Young Winemaker National Final
26 August
nzwine.com/en/initiativesevents/youngwinemaker
The Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker of the Year Competition champions emerging young winemakers in the New Zealand wine industry. It is open to young people working in all roles, from winemakers and assistant winemakers to cellar hands, cellar managers and lab staff. They are tested across a wide range of skills and knowledge, including blending, laboratory tests, viticultural knowledge, tasting analysis and market knowledge.
Regional finals are on:
The winners of each local event competition will go on to compete in the National Final in Canterbury in August.
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Nina Downer from Felton Road in Central Otago won the national title in 2024. |
Young Viticulturist National Final
27 August
nzwine.com/en/initiativesevents/youngvit
The Young Viticulturist of the Year Competition celebrates its 20th year with the 2025 competitions, where up and coming talent, aged 30 years and under, will be tested on a mix of practical and theoretical tasks, including pruning, netting, irrigation, machinery, pests and diseases, budgeting, nutrition, wine knowledge, irrigation, trellising and an interview, as well as the classic BioStart Hortisports race, a quiz round, and a speech at the awards dinner.
The regional events are on:
Winners from those competitions will go on to the National Final at Greystone in North Canterbury on 27 August, with the winner announced at the New Zealand Wine 2025 Celebration Dinner the next evening.
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Andrew Shedden, Head of Fine Wine, Endeavour Group at the 2024 Wine Business Forum. |
New Zealand Wine 2025
28 August
nzwine.com/en/initiativesevents
An annual opportunity for the New Zealand wine industry to connect, learn, and celebrate achievements. Save the date for the third Wine Business Forum, to be held in Ōtautahi Christchurch, followed by the New Zealand Wine 2025 Celebration Dinner, where we will raise a glass to the NZW Fellows 2025, and announce the winners of Young Viticulturist and Tonnellerie de Mercurey Young Winemaker of the Year Competitions.
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Cool Climate Symposium
26 - 28 January 2026
iccws2026.nz
Registrations are open for the 11th International Cool Climate Wine Symposium, to be held in Ōtautahi Christchurch in January 2026. Speakers include Dr Patricia Skinkis, Professor & Viticulture Extension Specialist with the Oregon Wine Research Institute at Oregon State University in the United States, and Dr Kai Voss-Fels, Head of Department of Plant Breeding at Hochschule Geisenheim University in Germany. Presenters also include Anne Escalle, General Manager of Edmond de Rothschild Heritage Wines New Zealand, Nick Lane, Head Winemaker at Defined Wine Ltd in Kent, England, and Roy Urvieta, Winemaker at Catena Institute of Wine and Domaine Nico in Mendoza, Argentina.
Alicia Willner is one of the organisers of the Organic & Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference, on in Marlborough from 16-18 June. The winemaker says we can create the future we wish to see. "Small acts, when multiplied by many, can create transformative change."
Nick Pett is Committee Co-chair for the Organic & Biodynamic Winegrowing Conference, taking place in Marlborough from 16-18 June.
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