Each year, the regions of each Great Wines Capital hold a Best of Wine Tourism Awards, and I’ve had the privilege of helping judge these for the past three years. Winners across seven categories for 2026 were announced in September, and the list makes an excellent foundation for an itinerary exploring the best of Hawke’s Bay wine country.
The stage and storytelling
Black Barn Vineyards took out the Art and Culture and Architecture and Landscape accolades this year, reflecting efforts stretching back decades, with earthworks for the big features completed long before any structures were built.
Today the grassy terraced amphitheatre is beloved by concert-goers and artists alike; the black-stained cedar and recycled native timber still tell a bold Kiwi design story in harmony with its surroundings, and the circle of poplars hosts a weekend growers’ market. Newcomer Pask surprises visitors with a beautifully designed cellar door and dining room in the middle of an industrial area: its courtyard will undoubtedly play host to a lively first summer.
Pask. Photo / Supplied
Smith & Sheth, which calls Havelock North home, was awarded the gong for innovation. Its urban wine studio takes guests through multi-sensory masterclasses, the cellar door and wine lounge offers a range of tastings with optional cheese matching, and a new hands-on vineyard tour gets you right on to a vineyard, tasting different grape varieties while granting an elevated view of Gimblett Gravels which, having shrugged off its rubbish dump and quarry status in the 1980s, produces many of Hawke’s Bay’s most illustrious wines.
Smith and Sheth. Photo / Supplied
Tasting a new single vineyard vintage on Smith & Sheth vineyard tour. Photo / Supplied
Mindful journeys
Electric Executive sets a benchmark for eco-conscious luxury, which bagged it this year’s Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices award. The fully electric luxury touring fleet runs on New Zealand’s renewable grid. Instead of buying offshore offsets, real-time emissions are calculated and directed straight into planting native trees locally via Hohepa Hawke’s Bay.
Gastronomic heights
Craggy Range. Photo / Supplied
The region’s culinary crown this year belongs to Craggy Range. Nestled beneath Te Mata Peak, the estate centres its dining around biodynamic kitchen gardens planted just steps from the kitchen. The intimate upstairs dining room and bar The Loft has added an exciting new dimension to the offering, and the service is among the most polished in the entire country, yet remains relaxed and friendly. If you visit at the right time, the three-course locals’ lunch is wonderfully good value.
Dining at The Loft, Craggy Range. Photo / Supplied
If you have time to dig deeper, exploring the southern reaches of the region yields one of its hidden culinary treasures, Wallingford Homestead. Guests embarking on a degustation dinner will taste bounty from the garden, with seasonal goodies like game and black gold truffles from the property, and the wine pairing is superb.
Mike and Carlita at Cellar 495. Photo / Supplied
In the heart of Hastings, which has a burgeoning hospitality scene, Cellar 495 nails the intimate wine bar brief and excels at pouring top drops from the region, and always surprises me with the quality and inventiveness of dishes cooked up in its pantry-sized kitchen.
Pedal power
Tākaro Trails Cycle Tours. Photo / Supplied
Cycle tours are booming as travellers yearn to explore at an unhurried pace. Taking top honours in Wine Tourism Services, Tākaro Trails Cycle Tours connects guests with the landscape and its people via e-bike tours, both self-guided and guided, while embracing the spirit of tākaro (play). You’ll glide between cellar doors, coastal villages, and river trails. Those on a five-day ‘Uncorked’ tour enjoy a stream of premium cellar door tastings, an Art Deco tour, a guided hike up Te Mata Peak, and a visit to Ātea a Rangi Star Compass showcasing traditional celestial navigation, Pacific voyaging, and storytelling.
Where to stay
Recognised as the region’s standout accommodation provider this year, Black Barn manages 15 self-contained luxury retreats, with settings ranging from vineyard to coast. The guest team can organise in-house private winemaker dinners and curated cellar door tastings.
Esk Valley property Kiwiesque has bounced back from significant Cyclone Gabrielle damage to offer a home-away-from-home on the owners’ Esk Valley vineyard, which comes with a cellar dug into the lawn and its own barbecue area out the front.
In Havelock North, rooms at Porters Boutique Hotel, which has won the Accommodation category in the past, are spacious and luxuriously comfy, and the hotel connects to both restaurant Malo, where the wine list showcases the region brilliantly, and Smith & Sheth.
Also in the heart of Havelock North village, I can recommend Quest Apartment Hotels, which opened this month. The sizable one-bedroom executive room comes with a full kitchen, handy for enjoying spoils from the local markets, orchards, and cellar doors.
Details
The 26th Great Wine Capitals International Annual Conference will take place in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, from 18 to 22 October 2026
hawkesbaynz.com/articles/best-of-wine-tourism-awards-2026-winners-announced