Craggy Range Vineyards Gets the Green Light to Grow from OIO by Rebecca Howard

Craggy Range Vineyards was given the green light to purchase 132 hectares of land in the Wairarapa for $ 3.6 million.

The purchase will allow the Australian company to enlarge its existing Martinborough vineyard, which lies about a kilometer away, the Overseas Investment Office announced.

The site is currently untapped and "because the land would otherwise be used as pasture, the investment is likely to turn much of the land into a more productive and higher use," said the company. OIO in a summary. of his decision.

Craggy Range will plant vines and build a dam of water storage. The investment is also expected to result in 20 new seasonal and permanent employment opportunities to develop and operate the vineyard and increase New Zealand wine export earnings.

New Zealand wine exports are currently valued at $ 1.7 billion during the 12-month period ending in June and wine is the fifth largest export of the country. A total of 419,000 tonnes of grapes were harvested during the 2018 vintage, up 6 percent over the previous year, according to New Zealand Winegrowers. Most of the harvest is from February to April, although some areas continue to be harvested in June.

"These advantages relate to factors of great importance in the letter of the current Ministerial Directive". Last November, the government issued a new directive letter to the Overseas Investment Office, which states that foreign buyers of rural land are facing stricter requirements to provide additional benefits to the neo economy. -zélandaise.

Craggy Range has already invested more than $ 150 million in the New Zealand wine industry, planted more than 250 acres of vineyards and employs approximately 80 employees across the country.

Gimblett Gravels owns a 102 hectare vineyard Hawke's Bay as well as vineyards in Martinborough and Marlborough. The Martinborough vineyard produces grapes of Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.