January 31, 2026

So you fancy your chances at estimating the tonnage of wine grapes harvested across New Zealand this coming vintage?
Well you’ve come to the right place! For the 20th year, we at WineWorks have run a sweepstake to guess the total tonnes of wine grapes harvested in New Zealand this coming vintage. 

This year, despite rain in Marlborough in January, the weather has been friendly. Pressure is on to reduce yields to keep our supply in balance with our demand, and wineries are limiting their intakes because they’ve still got a bit of last year’s vintage in tank. So vineyard managers across the country are teetering between being sensible and going for it. All the while running their tractors 24/7 to keep the powdery mildew at bay! Which one will it be? Anything can happen.

So if you want to enter, click here to put in your carefully-considered estimate. Or you wildest guess! It doesn’t cost anything, and you could be receiving a crisp $100 note from our founder Tim if you are on the money. Keep it sensible, between 333,000 tons and 666,000 tons.

Then what? NZ WineGrowers’ Philip Gregan will release the total tonnage some time in June. As before, if you predict it exactly, you’ll get a crisp $100 note, personally delivered by our founder, Tim. We’ve doubled the prize money, and there will be a $100 note for the WineWorks entrants, and another $100 note for the rest of the industry.  You’ll be notified where you sit in the entries after the entries close.