Northland| Auckland| Waikato/Bay of Plenty| Gisborne| Hawkes Bay| Wellington/Wairarapa| Nelson| Malborough| Canterbury/Waipara Valley| Central Otago|

• Occupies the lower right hand (southern) section of the North Island
• The Wellington/Wairarapa wine-growing region is one of New Zealand’s smallest, with several sub-regions ( Gladstone, Martinborough, Masterton, and Opaki)
• Climatically Wairarapa is more like Marlborough than to any of the North Island regions, with low rainfall, high sunshine hours and cool nights
• Martinborough, as well as being a town, is also the oldest and best known wine area within the Wairarapa region
• Wellington is small in production terms but makes a large contribution (focus on quality over quantity)
• Pinot Noir is the region’s most planted and most acclaimed grape variety
• Versatile region, producing good merlot, chardonnay, gewürztraminer, sauvignon blanc, riesling and pinot gris
• The region’s vineyards tend to be planted on high alluvial terraces in deep stony and free draining soils
• The mountains to the west protect the valley from the harsher weather, though the area gets strong breezes that help temper the vines
• The growing season is long (one of the longest in the entire country), and autumn is especially warm, dry and long, allowing the fruit to mature past the point of ripeness