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Corbans senior winemaker Tony Robb says all wineries should sign up to a sustainable future after winning the inaugural Champion Sustainable Wine Trophy at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards.
"I believe if you're really serious about going forward in the industry as we need to [be] given we export so much wine then I think everybody should be doing it and certainly that's the stated aim of New Zealand Winegrowers," Robb said.
Wine exports for the year ending June totalled $698.3 million.
The requirements of being sustainable were not particularly onerous and included water consumption and the use of specific types of refrigeration coolants, Robb said.
"In fact most of the changes we made made good business sense."
New Zealand Winegrowers wants the whole industry working under independently audited sustainability schemes by 2012.
Corbans-owned Cottage Block Hawke's Bay Chardonnay 2006 won the first Bell Gully Champion Sustainable Wine Trophy at the awards held in Christchurch, which were attended by more than 750 people.
There was a new global awareness to sustainable issues, Robb said.
"New Zealand has its own special problems given our distance from global markets so having something like this behind us has got to be good."
Chairman of judges Steve Smith said sustainability was about environmental good practise, with wines that qualified called "pure". "There was a whole bunch of wineries up for that award and for our largest winery to win ...
"I think it sends a serious signal to every producer in the country," Smith said.
New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan said the organisation had been working on sustainability issues since 1993.
"The introduction of the sustainability award was part of the carrot if you'd like to encourage industry to go down that path," Gregan said.
Hawkes Bay wine Trinity Hill Homage Syrah 2006 took home the top trophy as Air New Zealand Champion Wine of the Show.
John Hancock, co-owner of Trinity Hill which has a winery in Gimblett Gravels, said at $120 a bottle it was New Zealand's most expensive Syrah.
"We think it justifies it now," Hancock said.
Hawkes Bay wines scooped eight of the 18 trophies, Marlborough took home seven trophies, two went to Central Otago and one to Gisborne.
Former chief judge Brent Marris resigned last December after his Wither Hills competition wines were found to be different to those sold to the public.
England-based international judge New Zealander Peter McCombie said the awards were one of the most professionally run competitions.
"Consumers can be confident with any wine awarded an Air New Zealand Wine Awards medal," McCombie said.
* Owen Hembry attended the awards courtesy of New Zealand Winegrowers.
