Last-minute nerves meant stone-fruit trees were planted instead, but the Turners always believed the Waitaki Valley could become a wine region.
The opening of the Kurow Winery on Saturday, a complex developed from a former stone-fruit outlet and packing shed, was a "truly proud occasion" and a milestone for the Turner family, Kurow Estate general manager Murray Turner said.
After Mr Turner and his wife Diana sold the fruit farm (they retained a small area which they have planted in grapes) to the Pasquale family, they oversaw its development.
Over the past two and a-half years, the Turners and the Pasquale family have transformed the former River-T fruit farm into a vineyard and winery.
Mr Turner paid tribute to the Pasquales' foresight, vision and tenacity.
Antonio and Stefania Pasquale and their daughters arrived in New Zealand from Italy in 1997, bringing a rich family heritage in the wine industry.
They have invested more than $3 million in the project.
The wine industry in the Waitaki Valley is young, with the first grapes planted in 2001 by the late Howard Paterson.
That was followed by a frenzy of plantings by other pioneers and the first crops, harvested in 2003, immediately gained media attention.
It had not been an easy road but the region was producing quality wines, Mr Turner said.
Sustainability and low environmental impact was a priority for the company.
Traceability in the food and wine industry was becoming very important and every wine label produced from 2009 would have a code that could be traced back to the soil it came from, he said.
Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean, who officially opened the winery, thanked the Pasquale family for their investment in the community.
"This Kurow winery says to New Zealand that the Waitaki Valley is a destination. That is a very exciting thing for us all."
It would make a large contribution to the economic wellbeing of the valley and make the valley a "must do" tourist destination, she said.