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

Another area in which Fistonich showed the way for his country was with bottle caps. By about 2000, cork-tainted wines and oxidization had become a thorn in the side for New Zealand's wine producers and small wineries began replacing corks with screw caps on their lower-level drops.

Fistonich went further, declaring Villa Maria a 100 percent cork-free zone, sealing all wines from the 2002 vintage onwards with screw caps.

"It was a bold move," he says, adding that it was a matter of safeguarding quality, something he was unwilling to compromise on.

Screw caps ambassador

However, persuading the world that such a move was wise was going to prove a tall order, given that in most places there is a doggedly persistent belief that good wines must be sealed by a cork.

The persistence of that misconception is evidenced by the fact that to this very day Fistonich continues to feel the need to give lectures and send out letters explaining why the practice he adopted 14 years ago makes sense.