2021 Craggy Range Sophia Gimblett Gravels Hawke's Bay

Deep, garnet red. The 2021 Sophia has an openness rarely seen in this wine owing to a perfect summer of heat and dry days. Subtle notes of wild thyme and sage seamlessly blend with plum, fruit cake and brioche. The mid-palate suppleness and sweetness are already so enticing and sure to appeal to loyal followers of this wine. A delicious release.

A very warm spring brought forward the growing season. Summer was mild but with minimal rain days, producing low yields.

BRIX 24.2 average
PRODUCTION LEVEL 35 hl/ha average
HAND HARVESTED 100%

WHOLE BUNCH : 0%
DESTEMMED : 100%
FERMENTATION VESSEL : Closed top French oak cuves
FERMENTATION : Inoculated
BARREL TYPE  :French oak barriques
NEW BARREL % : 33%
MATURATION : 17 months
FINING : Yes
FILTRATION : Yes – coarse filtration
BOTTLED : Nov 2022

ALCOHOL : 14.0
RESIDUAL SUGAR : Nil
PH : 3.65
ACIDITY : 5.6 g/l

Established in 1998, Craggy Range is a family-owned winery situated in the shadow of the spectacular Te Mata Peak in the premium wine-growing area of Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand.  With an unrelenting focus on quality, Craggy Range produces a collection of iconic wines from their exceptional estates in Hawke’s Bay, Martinborough, and Marlborough.

When Craggy Range owners Terry and Mary Peabody first set out to start a winery with world class aspirations, their search quickly brought them to New Zealand. Looking down from Te Mata Peak onto the land where Craggy Range now stands, they were clear that they wanted to create a winery and an experience which truly evoked the unique landscapes and heritage of the region.

Taking an innovative position of pursuing a multi-regional approach to wine growing meant we didn’t have to compromise. After discovering the promise of New Zealand, the Peabody family focused on the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowing district in Hawke’s Bay and Te Muna Road in Martinborough to produce a collection of wines that speak very much of their place.

We have an ambition to sit comfortably alongside the great wineries of the world. This ambition is underpinned by a focus on quality, evolution and custodianship, specifically around community and the environment. In 2020 we embarked on an ambitious biodiversity project which will see us plant more than 100ha of native trees within our Martinborough vineyards, improving the biodiversity and eventually the quality of our land.

To ensure a firm commitment, Terry Peabody honoured the original promise of leaving a legacy for the family still to come and established a 1000-year trust, meaning the winery can never be sold. What has followed in the last 20 or so years has been the development of an iconic New Zealand winery which has never lost sight of its sense of place, or its family ties.

Craggy Range produces a collection of iconic wines from multiple regions in New Zealand. Owner Terry Peabody and his family pursued the single vineyard approach to winemaking, planting on green fields and bare land ensuring a focus on quality from the very beginning.

New Zealand, with its diversity of soils types, offered the perfect location to plant the vines. From the stony, warm soils of the Gimblett Gravels in Hawke’s Bay to the volcanic, clay soils of Te Muna Road in Martinborough these exceptional vineyards produce wines with amazing aromatics, purity and complexity.

The wines, produced for the Prestige and Family Collections are pure expressions of the unique terroir in which they were grown.