Hidden treasure in Hawke's Bay

Rod Easthope, winemaker at Craggy Range in New Zealand with quite a bit of South African winemaking experience under his belt, brought a few intriguing bottles over from Hawke’s Bay on his recent short visit to London. ‘I want to shatter Hawkes Bay’s conventional wine image. Chardonnay is the most consistent performer across the region. Whereas with reds they really only excel in distinct pockets: free draining gravels and the odd sun baked slope.Though instead of showing me Chardonnays, he chose a particularly eclectic line-up of whites.

Some of the Sauvignons he showed me confirmed a trend I have discerned...