OPINION: Vintage 2023 saw a welcome return to melting pot wineries, as companies threw open their doors to global wine workers, with all the excitement, experience and insights they offer.

Summer 2023 will live long in the memories of growers and wineries in the North Island, with record rainfall in several regions making for a very challenging season.

Going, going, gone. It's perhaps an apt phrase for some of those amid the devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle in February, such as Philip Barber of Petane as he watched his steel tractor shed rip apart and its tractors float away.

For many growers and wineries, the past three years have all been about getting through the immediate challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

This long lean country, with its fringe of beaches, spine of mountains and korowai of cloud, is altogether unique.

I am often asked whether it's difficult whether it's difficult to find enough wine stories to fill a magazine.

Reputation, as everybody knows, is a hugely valuable asset - hard to earn and easy to lose.

New Zealand's wine industry has been built on the endeavours of its history makers, men and women who've invested decades of time, knowledge and passion into our vines, wines, research and markets.

The recent announcement of a new New Zealand/European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is good news for wine exporters.

And they're off! After nearly three years 'Zooming' around the world while grounded in New Zealand, winemakers, viticulturists and marketers are taking flight.