Knight of the whites in land of the long white cloud

George Fistonich has poured his life into wine, and the accolades keep on flowing

Ninety years ago Andrija Fistonich, a young Croatian, stepped off a ship onto the wharves in Auckland, New Zealand, after a voyage of about 20,000 kilometers lasting three months.

He was one of many Croatians who left their homeland in the years after World War I as fears of another similar conflict brewed. Some went to Australia and Chile, but Fistonich chose to sail to "the land of the long white cloud", which he had heard much about in letters from his cousins who had settled there.