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: If it’s wine you like, and Pinot Noir you love, Central Hawke’s Bay is a must-visit destination during your New Zealand holiday. Greater Hawke’s Bay is famous for its wine and rightly so. Over 70 wineries are crammed into a relatively small area, a wonderful concentration of high quality red and white wines, in particular world-class Bordeaux blends and chardonnays. Most visitors are content to follow the traditional Hawke’s Bay wine trail which loops and meanders around the outskirts of the region’s two biggest cities, Napier and Hastings. But if Pinot Noir is your thing, step off the trail and head south to Central Hawke’s Bay.

Central Hawke’s Bay is no Bordeaux or Napa Valley, dotted with imposing chateaux around every bend. This is rural New Zealand at its most typical, with an emphasis on sheep and cattle farming. They call Central Hawke’s Bay ‘Lamb Country’ and a drive through the green countryside in early spring will confirm why the name has stuck! But there’s more to Central Hawke’s Bay than sheep. The area is home to several fine swimming beaches, good trout fishing, beautiful scenery…and some seriously underrated pinot noirs.

New Zealand has a growing global reputation for its pinot noir, which is harvested and produced in several hot-spots including Central Otago, Martinborough and Marlborough. However, Central Hawkes Bay winemakers are challenging these famous regions with the aim of turning their patch into a pinot hot-spot of its own.

The key to cementing Central Hawke’s Bay’s place in this rather exclusive club is the climate. Pinot noir is a cool climate wine, preferring less heat during the day and cool evenings. Central Hawke’s Bay provides ideal conditions to grow wonderful pinot grapes and a small but determined bunch of winemakers are making the most of the climate, and the perfect grapes, to produce the next big thing in New Zealand pinot noir.

So who are the Central Hawke’s Bay winemakers to look out for? Lime Rock, about 40 kilometres south of Hastings, is a relatively young winery but has already garnered an impressive array of awards for its pinot noir. A little further south, Tukipo River Estate Wines make only pinot noir, chardonnay and rose, so they can’t be accused of spending too little time making too many different varieties! Their delicious Fat Duck and Fat Pheasant pinot noirs are well worth trying. And if you want to talk rugby while tasting, call into Junction Wines on the main highway south where former All Black John Ashworth has set up a winery on the windswept Takapau Plains.

Become a fan of Central Hawke’s Bay wines before the rest of the world discovers New Zealand’s newest pinot noir hot spot!