Knight of the Whites in land of the long white cloud

A Villa Maria tasting in 1980. [Photo/China Daily]

At Vidal there was a beautiful barrel hall, Fistonich says.

"So I had plenty of space, and thought, 'This would make a good restaurant'. So I went to the authorities, and said, 'I've got this empty room, and want to put a restaurant in there.'"

But Fistonich says he was told: "You can't do that. Nobody's done that before."

He refused to accept this decision and after a two-year legal battle with local authorities and licensing authorities, he was granted a license in 1979 to operate in the Vidal barrel room what became a first for the country: a vineyard bar restaurant.

It was very successful and became a model for other wine companies looking to do something similar, yet it remained the only winery restaurant in the whole of New Zealand until the mid 1980s. Now there are more than 100 winery restaurants in the country, says Fistonich.