Most new wine areas in the country were pioneered by people planting small vineyards, but Frank Yukich, whose father, Ivan, founded Montana Wines near Auckland, covertly bought 1620ha of Marlborough farmland to turn into vineyards in 1973.
When they planted the first vines on August 24 that year, he said "Wines from here will become world famous", which turned out to be extraordinarily prescient.
Mr Yukich left the company a year later, when his relationship with Seagram, by then a major shareholder, turned sour.
Montana (now part of the multinational corporation Pernod Ricard) celebrated its 30th vintage of sauvignon blanc recently . Prime Minister John Key unveiled a monument with Mr Yukich's words at the original Brancott Estate vineyard. Mr Yukich, now in his 80s, told the story of his dream of Marlborough vineyards and the struggle to fulfil it.
It was important not to rely on past success for the future, nor to stand still, he said. At the time, conventional wisdom in the New Zealand wine industry was that wine grapes would not ripen in the South Island.
Viticulturist Wayne Thomas researched the area and Mr Yukich bought 1620ha of farmland in the Brancott Valley, paying a non-refundable deposit. However, the board of directors refused to sanction the purchase.
Mr Thomas submitted his report to Prof H. W. Berg at the University of California viticulture department, who confirmed the suitability of the region for wine growing, and the board finally gave its approval. Planting, mostly of muller thurgau, went ahead, although of the first 1000 acres planted, only 250 survived the first season's drought, Mr Yukich said.
Montana planted its first sauvignon blanc in 1975, and it and a few other, smaller wine producers, including Hunter's, grew and exported Marlborough sauvignon blanc. By the late 1980s, it was receiving accolades overseas, as wine lovers came to realise the synergy of this variety and this place produced a wine with its own character, different from anything else in the world.
Now, there are more than 13,800ha of vineyard filling the Wairau and Awatere valleys and they are still extending, and New Zealand exports some 66,850,000 litres of sauvignon blanc. It's apparently the biggest-selling white wine in Australia at present.
