Kai Schubert can tell a great story, and the exuberant German winemaker has plenty of them to tell.

For starters, there’s the one about the time he sold a container of his wine to a hotel in Myanmar.

Then there’s a goodie about his friend who rents out his house in Turkey for half a million euros per week.

He gets a little more animated telling the one about his visit to the insanely exclusive Laucala Island resort in Fiji.

If you’ve never heard of it, Google the name, but long story short, the guy who owns Redbull bought the island off the Forbes family in 2003.

From there he turned it into a 25-villa resort and playground for the world’s super rich, with rates starting from $6700 a night, up to $62,400 per night for the hilltop “owner’s residence”.

You can’t even book a stay, you have to “apply” to visit Laucala.

Why was Kai staying there?

Well, he happens to make one of the resort’s “house” wines, which says a lot about how good his product is.

Schubert Wines is set on two blocks – a 2-hectare block on the corner of Cambridge and Huangarua Rds, Martinborough, and a much larger 12ha section in East Taratahi.

Along with partner Marion Deimling, Kai bought both blocks in 1999, after arriving in New Zealand the year before.

Across the two they produce between 60,000 to 80,000 bottles of wine per year, 75 per cent of which is pinot noir.

In Martinborough they produce three wines: a Syrah; a white wine called Tribianco (made of chardonnay, pinot gris and Muller-Thurgau grapes); and a red called Con Brio (merlot, syrah, cabernet sauvignon).

But the real magic happens on Dakins Rd, where the vineyard’s two “flagship” pinot noirs are made – the “more feminine” Marion’s Vineyard, and the “more masculine” Block B.

Kai and Marion also produce a sauvignon blanc, a late harvest Dolce, and a rose, which they’ve done well before it was accepted as a drink “not just for housewives”.

Kai says that he and Marion deliberately chose a Martinborough address to help those outside the country place his product.

Read more at source: Wairarapa Times- Age