It is our unique soil types and climate which take this resource and uses it to its best advantage. Our region receives only approximately 980mm of rainfall a year. The vast majority of the meaningful Gisborne vineyards are not irrigated, nor do these vineyards use overhead sprinklers for frost control. One of the key strengths of the Gisborne Wine Growing region is that with kind spring rainfalls and a long dry summer, in combination with our soils, allows dry farming of a wide range of grape varieties. Historically recognised as one of the ‘fruit-bowls’ of New Zealand, the region’s golden climate creates an abundance of other produce – citrus, stone- and kiwifruit, avocados and a wide variety of vegetables including tomatoes, sweet corn, squash and leafy greens of every type. Fine clay and silt loam soils create full flavoured aromatic wines with a haunting marine note, thanks to the nearby ocean. These breezes preserve natural acidity and tropical fruit flavours. ![]() Sheltered by hills and mountain ranges to the North and North West, Gisborne’s warm dry climate is moderated by the nearby ocean, with the cooling afternoon sea breezes, typical of many of the world’s great wine growing regions. A similarly modeled site,, focuses on Sonoma County wine country.Out here on the most easterly tip of New Zealand’s North Island, our region revels in a classic Pacific maritime climate. It’s a bit slow and clumsy to move between pages and you’ll need some patience to navigate and wait for a new page load, but may be useful for initial wine-themed trip planning. You can also hone your search through regional filters that cover most wine-producing regions of the world and even down to the appellation level. A combination of hovering over the icon and zooming in will activate a popup info box with the name and address of the site. offers a view of wineries and wine bars, identified by icons on a map. The site is a little rudimentary and confusing to navigate-almost like he started something cool then abandoned it when technology got more sophisticated, but it’s a fun poke around with a glass of wine. Master sommelier Fernando Betata hosts a series of interactive maps on his site, some of which are Google Earth tours of regions (Germany, Burgundy’s Cote de Nuits, Madeira and Santorini) and others that use Google Earth-type technology to zoom in and out and offer popups with appellation-specific information such as notable vineyards, area size, soil, stylistic notes. Honing in on a specific AVA brings up options to see the legislation that designated the AVA (Federal Register and other dockets), and what’s cool about that is you can see all the rigorous requirements attached to creating an AVA-distinguishing soil and geology features, climate, elevation, etc. The “Add to my AVA” feature lets you create a reference library. The site contains good, if basic (just the facts, ma’am!), information about existing and proposed AVA boundaries. ![]() Not surprisingly, the AVA Map Explorer is a bit of a visual bore, but you can change the base maps to street views, topo maps or satellite. Surprisingly, The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau hosts a pretty decent interactive map of American Viticultural Areas. Basic but accurate information on American Viticultural Areas from the gov.
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