Pernod Ricard Reports Earthquake Damage in NZ

1:36PM Friday December 21, 2007

The New Zealand Hearld is reporting "up to 15 vats of wine have been cracked or damaged as a result of last night's earthquake at Montana winery's Gisborne site. Montana spokeswoman Cathy McKeown said the chief wine maker was on his way to the vineyard outside of Gisborne, to assess the damage.Pernod Ricard New Zealand, formerly Montana Wines, has three wineries in the area, all of which suffered damage. "At this stage it is still too early to determine the full extent of the damage," managing director Fabian Partigliani said."However the vineyards themselves look to be unaffected by the earthquake. "We do know there has been some wine losses and tank damage." "With 450 tanks over three winery locations, our team are carefully working their way through each site, both assessing the extent of the earthquake damage but more importantly ensuring the site is secure."