New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) is honoured to be recognised as the best Wine Region for the 2026 Azure Road Impact Awards Drinks Category.
What we drink shapes places just as surely as where we sleep. Vineyards and wineries sit at the intersection of land, labour, and culture, yet conversations about “sustainable wine” often stop at certifications and carbon footprint.
The Azure Road Drinks Impact Awards were created to give a more holistic perspective to conversations about sustainable wine. Azure Road looked at how producers farm, of course, but just as closely at who gets represented, who gets hired, and who gets to stay on their land or in their community because a project supports local jobs. For the Drinks Impact Awards, environmental frameworks were important, but they weren’t the whole story.
Wine Region – New Zealand
Fine winemaking while pioneering sustainable wine farming – This cool-climate winegrowing country spans vineyards across the North and South Islands and treats Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) as its national sustainability certification program. Launched in 1995, SWNZ sets independently audited standards and guidance across areas like climate, water, soil, plant protection, waste, and people, and now covers about 98% of New Zealand’s vineyard area and around 90% of wine produced.
https://www.azureroad.io/azure-road-impact-awards-2026-winners/
NZW’s focus on our Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Programme (SWNZ) is what set us apart from the other Wine Regions nominated.
Over more than thirty years, SWNZ has evolved into a robust, independently audited programme that now certifies 96% of New Zealand’s vineyard area and approximately 90% of wine production by volume. That level of participation by both winegrowers and winemakers sets this programme apart as the only one of its kind around the world. In 2025, exports of New Zealand wine exceeded $2.1b per annum.
The SWNZ programme has never sat still but has continuously evolved to meet an ever-changing world. It focuses on six key areas: Climate Change, Water, Waste, Plant Protection, Soil and People.
One thing that has remained constant for the last thirty years and will continue to reassure wine lovers around the world is the high level of commitment New Zealand wine has to a sustainable future that drives its unique and distinctive wines.
https://www.nzwine.com/en/sustainability/swnz/
We are also excited to see that a New Zealand Winery, Loveblock, was recognised as the best Wine Brand for the 2026 Azure Road Impact Awards Drinks Category.
Wine Brand – Loveblock, New Zealand
Science-based organic wines rethinking sulfites In Marlborough. Loveblock is Erica and Kim Crawford’s organic wine project, farming certified organic vineyards and making vegan wines. Crawford’s experiments with tea tannins led to the TEE Sauvignon Blanc line, which replaces added sulfur dioxide with green tea extract as the main antioxidant, offering a science-first way to reduce sulfites in commercial wine.
For further information, contact: Chrissy Powlesland Communications Manager, New Zealand Winegrowers.
Find out more here: Azure Road Impact Awards 2026 Winners Revealed.
https://www.azureroad.io/azure-road-impact-awards-2026-winners/