Petar Fredatovich set sail from his homeland in Croatia on the
shores of the Adriatic to discover a new and prosperous life in a
Distant Land. In New Zealand he found a land rich with promise
and vast opportunities.
Arriving in Auckland in 1922 with few possessions, Petar worked
in the Kauri tree gum fields and as a stone mason to save for a
deposit on a block of land west of the city at the foothills of the Waitakere Ranges.
Petar cleared his land by hand and planted vines. Barrels were
hand-made from local native Totara trees to ferment his wine. In
1937 he established his winery.