Although of a small size and export dependent, the New Zealand wine industry is growing rapidly and known for its high quality reputation nowadays. Only since 1960s, wine started to gradually become an important part of the New Zealand economy. Although initially only sweet wines of not very high quality were in demand, it served as a basis for the wine production development. As far as the environmental component is concerned, it is worth noting that the wine production is concentrated in different parts of New Zealand, causing a regional diversity and a significant changes on the landscape (35,000 ha in 2009). The physical environment (the soil, climate, humidity, etc) cannot but influence which exactly wine is being produced in the territory, as well as the quality of the wine. New Zealand is situated rather far away from all world markets due to its geographical position. It inevitably results into problems of moving goods, including wine. The population of the country is of around 4.3 million people, and the number of consumers is relatively small. According to Lewis, 75-80% of all the New Zealand wine goes offshore (mainly to Australia, UK and USA), besides, big part of it is owned by foreigners. Big wine companies appeared here only starting from 2000’s. Sauvignon Blanc dominates among other sorts of wine in New Zealand. This wine industry is distinguished by cooperative behavior. Wine exports exceeded 800 billion dollars in 2010, and the minimum price of a bottle is above 5euro, which makes the country unique in terms of average value. It is quite interesting that Lewis claims that the stories that are told about wine add significantly to its market value.
When comparing the production of such an agricultural US product as corn with the New Zealand wine production, it should be said that first of all, the US corn production industry cannot be claimed to be small at all. In fact, the United States is a major producer of this product in the world. Secondly, it is not export dependent like the New Zealand wine industry. However, both industries are expanding at rapid pace. Corn is known to be the most popular feed grain among farmers in the United States. It is being grown on huge territories in the US in most of the States of the country, and, thus, cannot but affect the landscape. For example, the Corn Belt in the Midwestern US replaced the natural flora due to the fact that it has been growing here for more than a hundred years and a half. It goes without saying that corn is not that demanding agricultural product as wine is, and can be easily grown. Unlike New Zealand, the US has a favorable geographical position, and transportation of corn to other countries is significantly cheaper. 20% of the US corn is being exported (in comparison to 75-80% of The New Zealand wine); 80% of the product is consumed domestically. The …