Waiheke winemaker and socialite Stephen White was cautioned by police to end his "harvesting" party for grape pickers during the lockdown.
Police were called to Stonyridge vineyard on April 2 after locals made complaints about White hosting a "party".
About 33 people attended the gathering before police arrived and told the remaining eight to leave at 6.30pm.
White told the Herald it was just a small gathering to thank his staff for all their "hard work".
He said he followed the appropriate guidelines to ensure all the workers were safe and kept to the self-distancing rule.
"This is absolute rubbish," he said.
"There was no 'secret party' and there was no 'cluster'. It was the end of the grape harvest and the tradition is to have a few drinks to thank people for their hard work and to comfort people who were worried about their families overseas.
"We kept to the rules of two-metre self-distancing and only one person served drinks.
"We are an essential service and we take this virus seriously. It was done super, super hygienically, one person handled the bottle with gloves and a mask on - this is ridiculous there is no cluster," White said.
Although the winemaker regrets holding the gathering he is adamant "no risks were taken".
"The restaurant manager was in charge of hygiene because our restaurant has closed. There were no risks taken, no one was put at risk.
"As far I know, no one has Covid-19 on the island, but regardless, we are treating this seriously, this bloody kills people," he said.
White understood none of the workers had tested positive for Covid-19 but he hasn't contacted them or seen them since the harvest two weeks ago.
"I am not going to contact 25 people and ask if they have Covid. I didn't ask them where they had been before we started picking. But there is nothing about us being irresponsible and I want to reiterate that."
White has a full register of his permanent staff and constantly monitors their movements and wellbeing.
The winemaker, known for hosting A-lister parties for celebrities, blames Waiheke's "conspiracy theorists and jealous locals beating things up".
"This is insane. There were no helicopters flying around apart from the rescue helicopter. No helicopter has landed at Stonyridge for a month. This isn't fair- it's just Waiheke scuttlebutt and jealousy. They just want to beat up on people who are f***ing working hard trying to keep this economy going. But the good thing is New Zealand seems to be getting this virus under control which is a good thing."
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
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