Take a drive along Bannockburn's Felton Rd and Central Otago's fastest-growing industry becomes obvious.
Block after block of vineyards dominate the landscape throughout the Cromwell basin, with every other driveway leading to a cellar door.
From roads with names including Chardonnay St and Pinot Noir Dr, dozens of stained silver vats and ageing oak barrels in large open-plan industrial work spaces can be seen throughout the town.
With intensive viticulture at Alexandra, Earnscleugh, Bendigo and Lowburn, as well, the district's claim as a fruit capital has taken on a new meaning.
Grapes are everywhere, and while many vineyards are well established, resource consent applications for further viticultural development continue to pile up at the Central Otago District Council's offices.
Although it is a relatively small area, Central Otago has embraced viticulture on an international scale, and the increasing number of local labels sporting wine awards seems testament to the hard work and passion of those involved in the industry.
The latest bout of accolades awarded to wine labels throughout New Zealand acknowledged the expertise and insight of Central Otago's top winemakers, three of which were responsible for bringing the gold home to Central.
Cromwell's VinPro Winery entered 38 of its wines in the Romeo Bragato awards held at Christchurch last week, and took away five gold, nine silver, and 17 bronze medals.
Chief wine judge Larry McKenna said VinPro set a new precedent in the competition by winning four gold medals for wines in the same class (the 2007 pinot noir class).
"To back it up with another gold for chardonnay just adds weight to the overall success of not only VinPro but Central Otago [as well]," Mr McKenna said.
At the same awards Olssens vineyard, in Bannockburn, won the Mike Wolter Pinot Noir trophy and overall wine of the show award for its 2007 Jackson Barry pinot noir.
Central Otago received seven of the nine gold awards for pinot noir.
One also went to Olssens winemaker Matt Connell's 2006 Bannock Brae barrel selection pinot noir.
Howie Hinton of Hinton Estate also won gold for his barrel selection pinot noir.
In total, 868 wines were entered in the Bragato awards.
Central Otago Winemakers Association president Martin Anderson said over the years Central Otago had "punched above its weight" at wine competitions, which had helped to set the district apart from other wine producing areas in New Zealand.
Despite the success of many vineyards, he also said wine judges could favour particular styles at different times, and for those vineyard entries which were not recognised with medals, it could be simply because the style of wine was not preferable, as opposed to poor quality.
"It's a bit of a lottery.
"While it's good to see so many Central Otago wines featuring so well, there are a number of others of equal quality which don't feature, because of style and trends," he said.
Mr Anderson said some wineries chose not to enter their wines in competitions for such reasons.
"But overall, for a small region at the bottom of the world, Central Otago has done extremely well."
This article does not cover the wine industry in the Queenstown Lakes District.
