NZ's wine capital celebrates 50 years in the business

The wine capital of New Zealand, Marlborough, is celebrating 50 years of commercial winemaking with the industry continuing to go from strength to strength.

The irony, perhaps, is that initially many didn't think winemaking grapes would grow well in the South Island.

In the region, Frank Yukich has been touted by many as the man who started it all. It was he who said the prophetic words "wines from here will become world famous" in 1973.

"My father was a really interesting person, he operated at about a thousand miles an hour at a time," his son Fabian told 1News.

"He would think and then he would act on the idea very, very quickly".

Frank even used his own money for the deposit on the land.

"A lot of people, even within his own business were quite sceptical about planting grapes in the South Island. In fact, very sceptical."

As it turned out, Marlborough's warm dry days and cool nights were perfect for growing. It's now the country's largest winemaking region — making up 85% of wine exports.

Pernod Ricard chief winemaker Jamie Marfell recalls growing up and seeing the farmland change into vineyards.

"All of a sudden I was driving down the road in the school bus and all the fences were taken out, all the trees were taken down. And there were hundreds of people around planting grapes everywhere".

"I didn't even think we'd get here in fifty years," Marfell says. "So I can't envisage with the next fifty years are going to look like. The landscape won't change much, but I think the way we make wine will change. How we grow our grapes, our styles of wine will change."

Jane Hunter has been called the First Lady of New Zealand wine. Hunter said never could she have dreamed the industry would have got to where it is now.

She said a wine show in London in 1988 was a turning point.

"You can see people, especially French winemakers, coming up to the stand and asking for a sample," Hunter said.

"But they'd take the sample but they wouldn't taste it there, they'd go over into a huddle, taste the wine, and talk amongst themselves, and I think that really was the start of it."

From there the world fell in love with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, which has gone on to be the wine New Zealand is most famous for.

Hunter said its popularity comes from its uniqueness.

"It's just so fresh and fruity, it's just got so much character.

"And it has that lovely zingy crispness to the finish."