Bottle, wine (Dry White)

item details

NameBottle, wine (Dry White)

ProductionDepartment of Agriculture; manufacturer(s); 1962; New Zealand

Classificationwine bottles

Materialsglass, paper, ink, foil, liquid

Materials SummaryWine in a glass bottle with a paper label and foil covering

DimensionsOverall: 340mm (height), 77mm (diameter)

Registration NumberGH012134

Credit lineGift of Stuart Alderton, 2009

Overview

In 1898, the New Zealand government set aside an area at Te Kauwhata as an agricultural experimental station, with the first experimental wines being made there in 1902. Most of the vineyards in New Zealand have been established from the stock from the Te Kauwhata station, which is still the centre of viticultural research.

This bottle is a rare survival of the Department of Agriculture's work in the 1960s, and illustrates the government's active participation in viticulture. At that time, table wines were taking over from locally made sweet fortified wines. Table wine was just 12% of wine produced in 1962, but had surged to more than 73% by the early 1980s. This particular example heralds this success in the viticulture industry, and indicates New Zealanders' changing drinking habits.