Earlier this week the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Cellar Door Tasting) Amendment Bill, proposed by National MP Stuart Smith, passed its first reading with broad support from across Parliament.
The Bill received 105 votes in support and it will move to the select committee stage.
The current legislation does not permit wineries that hold an off-licence to charge for tastings.
It either forces wineries to give wine away for free, or go through significant cost and time to acquire and maintain a separate on-licence.
The regulatory change, if it passes through the next stages, may come into law by the middle of next year.
New Zealand Winegrowers Association board member and Cromwell winegrower Misha Wilkinson said winegrowers were keen for the "significant" change.
"As you travel around the wineries across the country and the region, the number one thing they talk about is cellar doors.
"It is an anomaly in the law.
"The reality is you may have two cellar doors beside each other and one, which has a kitchen, can charge, while the other one that doesn’t, can not."
More than 80% of wineries in the country were classed as small wineries and most could not afford to have on-licence facilities.
They were going through bottles and bottles of wine every day and getting nothing for it.
"They are having a great time but it is not great for the winemaker.
"There are scenic vineyards in Central Otago where people go and get the mandatory picturesque photograph, drink a small glass of wine and then leave.
"They are walking away without buying anything."
Vineyard bike tours were becoming popular in places such as Wairarapa but they were not making any money for the winemaker, she said.
The wine was also not at its best after being opened and then left for a couple of days.
Most cellar doors were in small wineries and in rural areas.
Central Otago Winegrowers Association general manager Carolyn Murray said it was a really positive step forward.
A lot of cellar door tasting was about educating visitors about wine and introducing it to people.
But wineries could not afford to just give wine away for nothing.
It was an outdated law and nearly every other wine-producing country had cellar door charges.
It had not been decided on how cellar doors would charge — it might be a venue fee or a tasting fee.
As wineries were no different to other industries, which were doing in tough in tight economic conditions, the change should give a boost for businesses, she said.
Wineries will still be bound by existing host responsibility provisions, while the Bill also introduces a maximum pour size of 40ml for each tasting sample.
It was the second piece of good news for winemakers this week. New Zealand wine exports shot up by 25% year on year and now stand at $2.4 billion.
The United States market had been especially strong.
