Aqua blue skies, the sparkling Pacific Ocean, sheep and cattle grazing on rolling hills of lush pasture, trout-laden rivers winding their way from the snow capped mountain range to the coast. Get the picture? This is Central Hawke’s Bay!

The district is renowned for its warm summers, with temperatures (November – April) ranging from 20-32 degrees C and its mild winters (June- September) average 15 degrees C. Influenced by the beech-clad Ruahine mountain range in the west and surrounding Pacific Ocean in the east, Central Hawke’s Bay experiences a small yearly range of temperatures – around 10 degrees C. With its unpolluted atmosphere, we enjoy an average of eight to nine hours of sunshine per day in summer and five to six hours in winter.

With typically sunny blue skies and a good average rainfall of 31 inches per annum, conditions are ideal for agriculture and viticulture. Large sheep and cattle properties, export-producing apple orchards and a growing number of dairy farms are the mainstay of this district.

Central Hawke’s Bay’s variation of micro-climates and soils, such as lime-stone based hills, old river beds and river terraces plus the temperate summer climate, makes it an ideal situation for grapes. More and more vines are becoming established, particularly Pinot Noir, Riesling and Merlot, which require a marked variation between day and night time (diurnal) temperatures.