Wairarapa

While small in terms of total wine production, Wairarapa's boutique wineries have big international reputations for the quality of their Pinot Noir wines.

Pinot Noir is a notoriously difficult wine to make well. The grapes must be extremely ripe when picked, have very high sugar levels, and are best suited to cool climate regions.

Officially New Zealand's sixth largest region, it is small in production terms but makes a large contribution to the country's quality winemaking reputation.