Marlborough's wine industry is counting the cost of the Kaikoura earthquakes, with damage to a fifth of storage tanks putting pressure on next year's vintage.
The industry is one of the crown jewels for the region and while it escaped the initial magnitude 7.8 quake and aftershocks relatively unscathed, the problems could reach further into the future.
New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan says initial indications show 20 percent of the region's tank storage capacity has been "impaired to some extent".
However, that number may change as assessments continue.
That could be an issue for the harvest season in March next year, when winemakers could struggle to find places to keep their wine.
Mr Gregan says the priority until then will be to repair or replace the tanks to have them ready in time.
"The process of tank repair is already underway but it is going to be a big task which will continue for many months."
Although the wineries lost around 4 million litres of wine, that is just 2 percent of the more than 200 million litres the region produces each year.
"While this is frustrating, this is not a major concern as vintage 2016 was a near record one. This means there is plenty of wine available to continue our market growth," Mr Gregan says.
NZ Winegrowers has been talking to affected wineries, tank manufacturers, engineers, the Government and the Marlborough District Council to make sure next season goes on as normal.
Aside from the "obvious damage" to transport links, there aren't any issues getting the region's premium products into the glasses of consumers.
Around 80 percent is destined for overseas markets.
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