Pat Stotesbery, proprietor of Ladera Vineyards, former NVV board president and current chairman of the organisation's Napa Name Protection committee, said: “Although New Zealand is not a major export market for Napa Valley wine, it is an important wine producer and there is potential for misuse of the Napa Valley name.

"This registration is another achievement in our on-going effort to ensure consumer confidence that when a bottle of wine says 'Napa Valley' in the brand name, the wine in that bottle is indeed produced from Napa Valley grapes and reflects the consistent quality of our region."

The NVV had previously obtained protective status for the Napa Valley brand in Brazil, Canada, India and Thailand, was the first wine region in the world to obtain the related Geographic Indication (GI) status in China in 2012, and was the first non-European wine region to secure GI status from the European Union in 2007.