New Zealand is a country of contrasts and the variety of the climates and soil types results in a diverse array of styles. The vineyards are grouped in ten main regions, mainly in the country's coastal areas.

The maritime climate in these areas results in a long and slow ripening period yielding the best grapes possible. The North Island has about 240 wineries within the main regions, which include the Auckland, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and Martinborough areas.

The South Island is less planted with about 160 wineries. However, it includes the heavily planted Marlborough region, as well as Nelson and Canterbury, two smaller growing regions. Recently, Otago, a large region in the cool, southern part of the South Island, has been a booming area for new vineyards, many among them planting the Pinot Noir grape variety.

Now a major international supplier, New Zealand's exports have more than quadrupled over the last ten years to a record export volume of sixteen and a half million litres. The experimentation that has brought many other New World wine producers such fine results in recent times can also be linked to New Zealand's export successes.

New Zealand became famous for the world-class wine from white grape varieties, particularly Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Muller-Thurgau, and Riesling. Of these, the Sauvignon Blanc is the one most associated with the New Zealand wine industry. Though this famous grape is the main reason for New Zealand's rise in standing, it would be wrong to ignore some of the other varieties. In fact, at the moment Chardonnay, not Sauvignon Blanc, is the most planted white grape variety in New Zealand.

The notion that New Zealand wines have little more to offer than its Sauvignon Blanc has been further challenged by the emergence of more quality red grape types. Particularly, the Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grape varieties have made great strides with the Pinot Noir hyped to be the new star of New Zealand's wines in the not too distant future.