Smart by Nature - the doors were opened!

19 September, 2007

The doors opened and thankfully the skies didn’t, as over 60 people arrived at Corbans Viticulture on Saturday, 25 August. As one of the leading suppliers of grafted grapevines to vineyards across New Zealand, Corbans Viticulture invited people in to discover the way it has been positively impacting the New Zealand wine industry.

The viticulture industry is responding to a drive for quality by introducing minimum standards for grafted vines specifications and vigorous testing to control the spread of virus. Corbans Viticulture is taking this drive for quality to another level through its research and innovation programme that includes:

• Hot water treatment of grafted grapevines for cool climate conditions
• Developing new methods to test vines for fungal and bacterial diseases, in addition to virus testing
• Becoming the first nursery in New Zealand to submit a scorecard to Sustainable Winegrowers NZ for accreditation

Brian Corban, Chairman of Corbans Viticulture commented in his welcome speech, “We recognise the importance of continuing this drive for quality from the nursery to the vineyard. The recent investment in Frontier Global, a company that can map your soil structure, map land contours and give you a virtual vineyard before you plant a Corbans Viticulture grafted vine means we are a company that can truly say we provide total vineyard solutions.”

Dennis Lunken, CEO of Corbans Viticulture said, “When you are part of a young, dynamic industry it is important to keep it truly sustainable and long lasting. We do this by sharing our knowledge – even with competitors. Opening our doors and showing people our technology, research and development empowers our team and gives the industry the security that we know what we are doing and we are doing it well.”

For more information on Corbans Viticulture, call 0800 VINELINE (846 354) or visit www.corbansviticulture.co.nz