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BOWT winner profile: Craggy Range

Winner of both the Architecture and Landscape and Culinary Experiences categories, and the global award winner for Hawke’s Bay in Verona in October.

Consummate professionals

The restaurant at Craggy Range is consistently recognised across a variety of awards schemes as being at the top of its game not only in the region, but across the entire country. It’s renowned as an establishment that proudly showcases its winemaking legacy alongside the beauty and bounty of the region it calls home. It’s not unusual for a meal at Craggy Range to be the key driver of a visit to the region and both front of house and kitchen teams take this in their stride, making sure the experience lives up to guests’ high expectations in a way that feels down-to-earth and never fussy. Putting diners at ease and showing them a uniquely Hawke’s Bay good time is what Craggy Range is all about.

Judges appreciated the in-depth knowledge staff exhibited, particularly around where produce is sourced from, and regarding the impressive drinks list. As a winery restaurant, Craggy Range rightly places importance on wine education among staff, and diners investing a decent amount on a bottle can rest assured they’re in good hands. Chef Casey McDonald gets joy from waiting tables as often as he can slip out of the kitchen, and the time he and all the staff take to converse with guests is one of the many details that make a dining experience at Craggy Range so memorable.

Garden to table

A walk through the 800 square-metre kitchen garden before or after a meal is highly recommended to get a sense of the extent to which the kitchen walks the garden-to-table talk. No matter the season, there will always be at least a few items of produce in each and every dish – if not more – harvested onsite. The menu helpfully lists everything grown there that’s currently featuring, as well as highlighting local farmers, fishers, and makers whose goods have been carefully selected to grace plates. Judges remarked that there is nowhere better to taste Hawke’s Bay on a plate than at Craggy Range, and no one better to be crafting what’s being tasted than McDonald and his team.

Design masterpiece

The series of buildings that make up Giants Winery at Craggy Range have a statuesque presence while also submitting to the majesty of Te Mata’s jagged escarpment which presides over the winery. The winery’s unwavering commitment to relating to the landscape through its design, layout, materials used, and even green spaces on the property makes it stand out from others, said judges. Visitors that make the popular pilgrimage to the top of Te Mata realise when they gaze downwards that this bird’s eye view has also been considered in the architecture and landscape design of the winery – a touch which judges described as going “above and beyond”.

Global winner

At the prestigious 2025 Best Of Wine Tourism Awards held in Verona, Italy, in October, Craggy Range was named the global winner for Hawke’s Bay, acknowledging the exceptional experience it offers on an international playing field. The global recognition puts Hawke’s Bay on the map alongside renowned wine heavyweights such as Bordeaux (France), Bilbao-Rioja (Spain), and San Francisco-Napa Valley (USA).

Comment from Craggy Range Executive Director David Peabody:
The BOWT awards allow Hawke’s Bay to show that it is a world-class tourism destination focusing on food and wine. All those who live in this region know how special it is, and it is inspiring to see it receiving recognition on a global platform. Our family searched all over the world for the perfect destination to start our dream, and there is a reason they chose Hawke’s Bay. We are humbled to receive the inaugural awards for Culinary Experience and Architecture and Landscape. Congratulations to all the amazing category winners who are embedding Hawke’s Bay as a premier fine wine tourism destination.