Nikola "Nick" Nobilo, 94, a pioneering winemaker whose company grew to become the second-largest in New Zealand's wine industry, died Thursday in Auckland, the company said in a statement.
He founded Nobilo Wines in 1943, six years after emigrating from Croatia. The Nobilos settled in Huapai, west of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, and started planting vines in the early 1940s.
They were key drivers in moving the nation's wine industry away from hybrid grapes to classic varieties in pursuit of higher-quality wines.
In September 1998, Nobilo Vintners, then a family company, purchased the award-winning New Zealand wine company Selaks.
In 2000, Nobilo Vintners was bought by Australia's second-largest wine producer, BRL Hardy, and it now is under the umbrella of global wine company Constellation Wines.
