Wine industry discusses Covid-19 impacts and water

Marlborough grapes make up almost 80 per cent of the country's wine exports, which is now hovering close to a 2 billion dollar annual export industry. The 2020 harvest is about to start, after what Wine Marlborough says has been an almost perfect growing season. Its general manager Marcus Pickens was in Nelson yesterday for a meeting with top of the south industries, councils and Government ministers, on the impact of the Covid-19 virus on the local economy. He told our Nelson reporter Tracy Neal this year's stunning vintage is a good distraction from talk of the economy, and another looming challenge - the increasing demand for a dwindling resource - water.