New Zealand wineries in "clean-up mode" after earthquake rocks South Island

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 15 November, 2016

New Zealand wineries are currently cleaning up and assessing the damage caused by a 7.5 earthquake which struck the region of the North Canterbury on the South Island on Monday night.

The country's key wine growing regions have been affected including nearby Marlborough, which is roughly 180km from the earthquake's epicentere in Kaikoura.

Major wineries have reported damage including Yealands Estate, which has closed its doors for the time being.

The earthquake struck on Monday (November 14) and the quake was widely felt throughout both the South and North Islands.

So far, no one from the trade has been reported as severely injured.

The initial quake and subsequent aftershocks have caused severe damage in some places according to New Zealand Wine - the trade body for the New Zealand wine industry.

Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand Winegrower, said the association has made contact with all its members in the affected areas via email.

"As far as we can tell all our people are safe, which is great news," he said.

"Wineries are now very much in assessment and clean-up mode. There have been plenty of reports of broken bottles and damaged tanks which is what you would expect in an earthquake of this size, but most wineries are reporting any damage as minor."

As wineries assess the damage, many have closed their doors in order to take stock and begin clearing up.

One such winery is Yealands Estate, which posted this message to its website: "We are extremely grateful that everyone in our immediate family is safe and unharmed. While there is some damage at the winery, the winery building withstood the conditions well, as it was designed to do. It remains closed for safety reasons while the damage is being assessed and cleaned.

"For the time being, all operations are off-line and communication is limited."

They are pushing ahead to get back up and running as soon as possible.

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