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Hawkes Bay

Hawkes Bay is the country's second largest region and has a respected 100 year heritage in wine The varied topography and wide range of soil types, from fertile silty loams to free-draining shingle, produces a considerable range of wine styles in this large region. There are 22 categories of soil types on the Heretaunga Plains alone, from stones to hard pans to heavy silts. Ripening dates for a single grape variety can vary by as much as three weeks between the hot, shingle soils of the Gimblett Road area to the cool, higher altitude vineyards of central Hawkes Bay. Chardonnay is the most widely planted grape variety but the long sunshine hours attract a high percentage of later-ripening red grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, as well as the early ripening Pinot Noir.