Book excerpt: Though the New Zealand wine industry really began only fifty years ago, vines and winemakers have now spread across the land – from Central Otago to Kumeu, Waipara to Wairarapa – to produce notable wines to global acclaim. For half a century, geographer and wine enthusiast Warren Moran has followed the development of the industry, talking to the winemakers and tasting the wines. In this book, he provides an unrivalled introduction to New Zealand wine: the climate, soils, and geography the winemakers work with; the grape varieties they have tried to tame; and the extraordinary personalities, families and companies who have made the wine and the industry internationally recognized. Illustrated with three-dimensional maps of regions and localities and spectacular photographs of the vineyards, the wines, and the winemakers, New Zealand Wine: The Land, the Vines, the People is a must for all of those interested in understanding the extraordinary wines of New Zealand.