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The wine industry is on target to hit $1 billion in exports by 2010, but says the supply of labour, land and water will be serious issues.
Chief executive of New Zealand Winegrowers Philip Gregan told a media briefing that to produce 300,000 tonnes of grapes, winegrowers needed an extra 35,000ha of producing grapevines, 10,000ha more than were currently producing.
Gregan also questioned whether there was enough land, water and labour to farm the extra vineyards, and said a shortage of labour was especially an issue in Marlborough, the country's biggest winegrowing region.
New Zealand's wine exports to Asia are expected to triple in volume over the next five years, while exports to countries other than the UK are expected to double in volume.
Wines other than sauvignon blanc and pinot noir are expected to reach 23 million litres, more than the total wine exports of 2002.
Such growth would have "profound" RMA implications, he said, such as winery processing capacity and waste management.
"As the industry gets bigger it gets more scrutiny so we've got to make sure what we're doing in terms of the RMA is right."
Sustainability was of growing importance to the industry, he said, not just from an environmental point of view but also to benefit offshore marketing.
People liked the idea that New Zealand wine was grown sustainably, he said. "People aren't buying our wine because it's cheap. It's not."
He rubbished the issue of food miles, saying it was like "Y2K", the belief that computer systems would crash in 2000 because the dates reverted to double zero.
By the 2012 vintage the association wants 100 per cent industry accreditation to sustainable programmes.
