I read that a few days ago. It makes sense: virtually everything in Marlborough is planted for and done by machine anyway (the exceptions are often, though not always, the best producers in the region), and one of New Zealand's bigger problems when it comes to wine is a lack of the...low-cost agricultural workforce to which most other countries have access. For the producers who are shaving and whittling to achieve ridiculously low price points to compete with other industrial wines on supermarket shelves, this would be a help.
