About
The New Zealand Wine Company Limited (formerly Grove Mill Wine Company Limited) is involved in growing grapes, winemaking and bottling, and in the marketing and sales of premium quality wines in New Zealand and to export markets with the brands Grove Mill, one of Marlborough's celebrated brands, Sanctuary and Frog Haven.
Grove Mill Wine Company Limited was established in 1988 when a group of Marlborough grape growers and business people recognised the potential of Marlborough as a premier wine-growing region, and the opportunity to develop a truly distinctive Marlborough style. To help realise this potential David Pearce was recruited as Winemaker. The Grove Mill winery was set up in an historic malt-house situated in the Grove area and is known as the Old Mill, hence the name Grove Mill. The early vintages achieved many wine awards to national and international acclaim. The Company changed its name from Grove Mill Wine Company Limited to The New Zealand Wine Company Limited on 17 June 2002.
It increased processing capacity to 3,100 tonnes in 2003-2006 with emphasis on a modern white wine production cellar. This will enable rationalisation of exisiting operations for greater production efficiency.
Vineyards
NZWC sources its grapes from a total land area of approximately 140 hectares of owned/leased vineyards and a further 140 hectares of Marlborough grapes under contract. All Company owned vineyards are growing on disease resistant root stock, as will new plantings.
Winery
The Company's current winery was built in 1994 to enable efficient processing of an increasing tonnage under strict quality control. It is fully insulated and includes a "hot room" (a first for a New Zealand Winery) for control of secondary ferments and a bottling hall expanded with a state-of-the art 2500 bottles per hour Italian bottling line together with an adjacent warehouse.
The Company has completed the construction of a new winery building which is part of an ongoing project that has more than doubled the size and capacity of the winery to 3,100 mt. The winery waste management system incorporates the use of a natural wetland area beside the winery, which serves as a nutrient sink. The environmental integrity of this winery waste system is measured by the return of frogs and bird life to the wetland sanctuary.
The NZWC group comprises The NZWC as the principal operating company at present with three wholly owned subsidiaries. Grove Mill Wine Company Limited and Sanctuary Wine Company Limited are the respective direct marketing companies for their respective "Grove Mill" and "Sanctuary" brands. In addition, Bedford Road Investments Limited is a dormant company available for strategic opportunities or for land investments.
The New Zealand Wine Company's vision is to: "Build successful premium New Zealand wine brands globally through environmentally sustainable business practices"
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Strategy
Put in place operational and capital expenditure to reduce emissions. In an expanding company the aim is to reduce the emissions intensity. With the diversity of our business activities there are currently no tangible KPIs to measure against.
Our 2008/09 emissions reduction plan will be made available shortly after board ratification. The New Zealand Wine Company is committed to measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and offsetting any net emissions through the purchase of EBEX21 carbon credits through Landcare Research, following the carboNZeroCERT TM certification process. This means that The New Zealand Wine Company is a carbon neutral company with no net greenhouse gas emissions from its business activities.
Among the company’s business strategies are to:
- Build the Company's position through environmentally sustainable practices
- Expand the winery production infrastructure while maintaining and improving current
quality, safety and environmental standards;
Sustainability Commitments
In September 2006 The New Zealand Wine Company became the world’s first carbon neutral wine company. This was achieved through carboNZero certification; a greenhouse gas certification scheme administered by Landcare Research, New Zealand. This environmental first was part of a much a larger economic sustainability model which was adopted in 2005.
As part of carboNZero certification, there is an emissions management plan and that should have SMART targets and target dates.
The aim of the model is for the NZWC’s products to become a consumer purchasing preference. It is envisaged that this is achievable through being an environmentally conscious luxury product.
There are 5 in place to manage the NZWC's environmental impacts and promote continuous improvement.
These are:
- Sustainable Wine Growing New Zealand - an industry led environmental programme which allows the NZWC to manage its everyday impacts from grape growing and wine making.
- Green Globe - is a benchmarking and environmental management system which allows the NZWC to put in place structured environmental management and comparative assessment of its environmental performance.
- Sanctuary Habitat Rehabilitation - is the physical representation of the NZWC's environmental commitments. Investment in native habitats has allowed the NZWC to give back to the eco-systems its activities take from.
- Organics - currently two of the NZWC's seven vineyards are in conversion to organics. These vineyards act as a test bed and organic practices are rolled out in other vineyards if they prove themselves sustainable.
- carboNZero certification - this is our commitment to reducing our climate change impacts. Through the carboNZero programme we are committed to measuring our greenhouse gas emissions, putting in place capital and operational expenditure to reduce these emissions and finally offsetting any remaining unavoidable emissions by purchasing carbon credits.
Climate Change
The NZWC relies heavily on the Marlborough climate in its production of world class wines. It is now mainstream thinking that this precious resource is being altered through man made greenhouse gas emissions. In 2006 the NZWC became a pioneer and became the world's first carbon neutral winery. Since then the NZWC has freely given its time to educate on this issue, it will continue to do so in a hope that many more wineries and industries around the globe will follow its lead.
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