It was far too early to speculate on the yield from the harvest, but he expected there would be a reasonable quantity, probably more than last year.
New Zealand Winegrowers chief executive Philip Gregan this week said he expected the national harvest to be slightly smaller than the 2009 vintage.
The harvest had already started in northern regions and Mr Gregan expected producers to harvest between 265,000 tonnes and 285,000 tonnes of grapes nationally this year.
"Our harvest is still probably a month and a-half away, but I'm optimistic about the coming season," Mr Mills said.
Last year, some Central Otago growers were hit hard by frosts, and volumes were down.
This year, the weather had been a "mixed bag", but fortunately, grapes had been spared from frost.
"I think our crops will be up a little on last year's. But as far as volumes are concerned, with pinot noir, we don't go looking for big yields anyway. We like small fruit with lots of flavour."
"Here in Wanaka we've had a wet January, dry early Spring, the heat in the past couple of weeks and all of that is a real mixed bag," Mr Mills said.
Grapes were starting to ripen in the district, attracting birds and wasps, so vineyards were applying nets.
Depending on the weather in the next six weeks, Mr Mills said, it was likely the harvest would begin in mid-April.
"I feel the crop is looking very good and is nicely balanced. But until you're picking the fruit and making the wine, it's hard to tell."
