The future of the wine industry will be the big topic at the annual Romeo Bragato grape growing and wine sector conference in Auckland.
The latest annual report from New Zealand Winegrowers shows the industry is climbing out of a downturn over the past two years, with a 5% increase in wine export earnings and an 11% increase in sales.
Chair Stuart Smith says one of the highlights of the conference will be a forum on the future of the industry.
He says there will also be a number of technical sessions where various innovations and research projects are reported back to the industry.
Mr Smith says that while the industry is making very good progress, it's having the ground cut from underneath it by the high New Zealand dollar.
About 250 delegates are expected to attend the three day event which starts on Thursday.
