The wine industry is developing hardier sauvignon blanc varieties that can withstand climate change, diseases and pests.
The $18.7 million project is the largest ever for the lucrative sector, one that Kiwis are world-famous for.
But most of our sauvignon blanc comes from the same variant that was first introduced to New Zealand in the 1970s. And relying on one variant is risky says NZ Winegrowers Association Jeffrey Clarke.
"We are quite exposed to a risk of something coming into the country that could affect one of those plants, it may affect them all.
"That could be potentially devastating."
So industry researchers and scientists are tackling their largest project yet - to create 20,000 new sauvignon blanc varieties.
They'll be screened to identify plants with useful traits - such as frost, drought, pest and disease resistance, and higher yields.
"A little clip out of the leaf of a plant we can run it through modern sequencing technology and understand what it is about each plant that is different," says Jeffrey Clarke.
"It's quite novel, we'll be harnessing the natural ability of the grapes to change when responding to stress."
The work will take place at the Bragato Research Institute in Blenheim, and in a Lincoln University laboratory.
New Zealand's largest wine exporter, Indevin Group, is part of the new project and its head of wine growing, Patrick Materman is excited.
"Ultimately as we face new challenges we want to be ahead of the curve and make sure we are well adapted."
Climate change is something that's been particularly challenging.
"The seasons are sneaking forward a bit, harvesting earlier, there's no doubt that it's warming. But we're also seeing more frost events, more rainfall and more droughts.
"What we would love to see is vines that provide sustainability and are suited to New Zealand growing conditions."
Our wine industry is a heavy hitter. In the year to June, $1.9 billion of wine was exported, and 87 percent of it was sauvignon blanc. So it's no surprise the government is injecting $7.5 million into this savvy project.
Minister for Primary Industries, Damien O'Connor says it's important to have a backup variant, as there's currently too high risk with just one.
"Sauvignon blanc is clearly the big player. We have to make sure we don't have some biological challenge or other issues with our market that upsets that dependence on sauvignon blanc."
A dependence many growers have.
"To remain future-proofed is critical to the success of our business," says Materman.
