New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) welcomes the passing of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Sales on Anzac Day morning, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day) Amendment Bill that comes into force tomorrow, just in time for the Easter holiday weekend.
“Before the changes, most winery cellar doors could sell their wine on Easter Sunday but not on other major public holidays. These changes expand this flexibility to other public holidays, including Good Friday, Christmas Day, and Anzac Day, before 1pm” says Philip Gregan, CEO of NZW.
“The other change affects winery restaurants and cafes. Previously, they could open on these public holidays but could only sell a glass of wine to customers who were dining, which came with additional requirements. These changes remove those additional requirements for dining and treat these public holidays just like other trading days. As always, wineries will be required to operate responsibly and follow any other conditions of their licences.”
These changes will allow businesses to continue to offer visitor experiences on these days and, in doing so, strengthen wine tourism.
Tourism contributes $2.8 billion to New Zealand’s regional economies each year, and winery visits play a part in that.
"We offer our congratulations to Hon Kieran McAnulty and acknowledge the work across the House to support these changes to provide these options for our members to provide a service to customers should they wish to do so.”
-Ends-
New Zealand Winegrowers' images can be found here.
For further information, contact:
Chrissy Powlesland
Communications Manager, New Zealand Winegrowers
+64 21 331 398
chrissy.powlesland@nzwine.com
Philip Gregan
Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand Winegrowers
+64 21 964 398
philip@nzwine.com
Editor’s notes
Ministry of Justice fact sheet available here.
Tourism contributes $2.8 billion to New Zealand’s regional economies each year, according to recent analysis of MBIE’s International Visitor Survey, commissioned by NZW.
NEW ZEALAND WINEGROWERS
New Zealand Winegrowers Inc. is the national organisation for the country's grape and wine sector, with over 600 grower members and 700 winery members. nzwine.com
NEW ZEALAND WINE
New Zealand wine is exported to more than 100 countries
New Zealand produces just over 1% of the world’s wine
New Zealand wine is New Zealand’s seventh-largest export good
New Zealand wine exports for 2025 were $2.10 billion
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