Knight of the Whites in land of the long white cloud

A view of vineyards in New Zealand. [Photo/China Daily]

Talking about this, he recites a sentence from the wine writer Hugh Johnson who says in his Pocket Wine Book that if screw caps had existed for the past 100 years it is fantastic how many great wines would have been sealed properly.

Fistonich attributes the nature of New Zealand's wines to the country's maritime climate.

"All of the vineyards are within 80 kilometers of the sea, and you can have very different climates from the tip of the North Island to the tip of the South Island. In Auckland we have very hot days. We can be up to 30 degrees, as far as you can go down to zero. There can be a really hot day and then a cold night, and some days sea breezes.

"So what happens is that vines ripen during the day, and then they go to sleep at night."

To ripen his grapes, Fistonich says on average it takes about an extra five or six weeks than it would elsewhere.