Aotearoa might be a long way from New York but the 2023 vintage has a lot in common with the most famous song about the Big Apple; If you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere, sang Frank Sinatra, and the sentiment applies to the 2023 vintage. Talk about a tough one.

As if two cyclones weren't enough for winemakers to contend with, continuous rainfall made that most important winemaking decision a fraught one - when to pick the grapes. The same was true in Hawke's Bay and, for the first time ever, winemakers from the Gimblett Gravels Wine Growing District, announced their top six reds (rather than 12) from their much awaited Annual Vintage Selection from 2023. The list of wines was announced yesterday and is on my previous post on this site. That said, the best wines from 2023 remain impressive, albeit they were made in smaller volumes and lighter styles. 

This column comes to you from the evening of day one of judging the New World Wine Awards in Napier but I had the extremely good fortune of tasting through the latest Craggy Range Prestige Collection wines earlier this week and the 2023 Craggy Range Aroha took me by surprise with its weight and concentration of flavour from a Pinot Noir grown in a cool climate wine region (the Wairarapa, at the southern tip of the North Island of New Zealand) and from one of the most rain-strewn vintages in living memory. Not that it rained continuously. It only felt like it did. In between pockets of downpour there were beautiful days and the meticulous viticulture team in Te Muna Valley, nine kilometres east of Martinborough village, put a lot of TLC into the Pinot Noir vines that go into making Aroha each year.

The 2023 Craggy Range Aroha puts forward a strong case for the benefit of following great wine producers every year because if you can make it in the toughest times and places, baby, you can make it anywhere. 

Wine of the week

2023 Craggy Range Aroha RRP $175

Dense but delicate, deep ruby in colour and silky in texture, Aroha (te reo Māori for love) is a labour of love and this is an exceptional wine. Red fruit aromas drive the front palate of this wine forward, supported by a firm, spicy backbone and smooth texture with fine acidity underpinning every sip. An outstanding wine from a tough year and a great producer. Savour every sip or cellar it. 

Also in the news over the past week...

Craggy Range’s new 2024 Martinborough Pinot Noir was awarded Best in Show at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). 

This is a big deal, especially with a score of 97 points out of 100. It's not easy to impress wine judges anywhere, least of all at one of the biggest wine competitions in the world where there are 16,000+ wines entered.

Only 50 wines out of the 16,000+ total were awarded a Best in Show award and the 2024 Craggy Range Martinborough Pinot Noir was one of them. 

The DWWA is now in its 22nd year and has carved a reputation of respect for its rigorous blind tasting process and authoritative panel of international wine experts.

This win is incredibly validating for Craggy Range’s position as a great wine producing company and also shines a light on the great potential of Martinborough as a wine region.

“Our vineyards here continue to prove why this site is so special for Pinot Noir - complex, elegant, and deeply expressive," says Craggy's Chief Winemaker Ben Tombs.

"This award is a testament to the passion and hard work of our vineyard and winery teams.”