Fistonich tastes one of his early vintages from barrel in 1970 and, inset, as he is today. [Photo/China Daily]

Fistonich himself became a father figure to New Zealand's wine industry and in 2009 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to it. His business acumen had been acknowledged four years earlier when he was named the country's Entrepreneur of the Year. That award, sponsored by Ernst & Young, recognized him as one of the true innovators of the country's wine industry.

"By nature, I've alway looked for ideas," he says, although he did not realize this when he was young.

Winery restaurant

For example, one of his earliest innovations was setting up New Zealand's first licensed vineyard bar and restaurant.

It was set in the barrel hall of Vidal, a small winery in Hawkes Bay, a region on the east coast of the country's North Island, that Fistonich bought when he was initially buying grapes and he ended up buying the winery in 1976.

Fistonich recalls that in his very early days in the industry there were no such things as steel tanks; wine was made and stored in wooden barrels, but these took up a lot of room. That changed about 40 years ago when the barrels made way for stainless steel tanks, at least for storage.