From August 2023 the region’s winemakers and growers celebrated 50 years of Marlborough’s official beginning as a wine region.

To celebrate 50 years, seven of the region’s foundational wineries have come together to speak on the core values that uplift everyone in the industry.

From energy and place to diversity and innovation, they reminisce on their own stories and history in the region, and explore what makes Marlborough’s wine so special in the hearts and minds of wine lovers around the world. 

Experience their ongoing legacy below. 

Few would have predicted Marlborough’s rapid ascent to become one of New Zealand’s preeminent – and internationally renowned – wine-growing regions.

Discover the history of our region’s wine brands and explore stories about our people and place that make it special here.

Wine Timeline

The decision made by Montana Wines in 1973 to plant wine grapes in Marlborough was the most visionary and vital one made in the short history of the New Zealand Wine Industry. It wasn’t an easy road to success, but led by science, our enviable natural environment, and a brave small community who got together and got things done, Marlborough put New Zealand wine on the world map.

Marlborough has quickly grown to be New Zealand’s largest producer and has grown at an outstanding rate, from 6,831 hectares in 2003 to the nearly 30,000 hectares of vineyard Marlborough boasts today – about 71% of the national total. Annually, Marlborough produces 300 million to 400 million bottles of wine.

Coincidentally, 2023 also marks 150 years since Marlborough’s first vineyard of Muscat was planted at Auntsfield by Scotsman David Herd in 1873.

Discover some of the major challenges and monumental achievements in our Marlborough Wine Timeline below.

1970’s

1980’s

1990’s

2000’s

2010’s