Three exceptional consecutive vintages is almost unprecedented in any wine region. For Steve Smith MW, finding the right language to describe this remarkable trilogy has required some creative thinking. The solution … A classic three-act screenplay.
Every vintage needs a descriptor, a moniker. Something that captures not just the weather or the yields, but the character of the year. Finding the right words is harder than it sounds, and this year it has taken some thought. Because we need to come up with not just one, but three.
We have just wrapped a terrific 2026 grape harvest in Hawke's Bay, and what is really bloody exciting is that this will be the third in a trio of exceptional vintages going back to 2024. It is almost unprecedented.
My favourite vintage moniker was given to the 2003 vintage in Burgundy, by Pierre-Henri Gagey of the great Burgundy house Maison Louis Jadot. 2003 was a searingly hot, dry, entirely atypical and generally not well-regarded Burgundy vintage. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir hate searing heat and drought. In front of a group of celebrated wine trade and media in New York soon after these grapes were harvested, when pushed on the matter, Pierre-Henri confidently labelled the 2003 vintage "exceptional." The room was in disbelief, noting though the French vignerons precocious talent for hyperbole. As the room became louder Pierre-Henri then completed the story with his final verse… "the vintage is exceptional because… it is… the exception." He silenced the room, everyone nodded and smirked, and we moved on to lunch. I witnessed a mastery of messaging.
I would never profess to have the same mastery of language as the eloquent Frenchman, however I do feel absolutely compelled to find a way to describe something exceptional.
2026 Chardonnay harvest at Omahu Estate, Hawke's Bay
So, let's think of this as a classic three act screenplay – not a story told with pictures, but a story told through the lens of wine. A story held together by a clear plot and an ambition to create world-class, exceptional fine wines from New Zealand's oldest, most premium wine region.
ACT I: 2024. ENERGETIC.
Vineyards recovering from the dramas of 2022 and 2023 quietly flourished in summer sun and the coolness of autumn. Highly flavoured, ripe wines with energy and real longevity.
ACT II: 2025. DELICIOUS.
A more generous vintage with a warm early summer and a beautiful typical long autumn. Delicious, serious, more gently textured wines with incredible length and complexity.
ACT III: 2026. CLASSY.
An early call. A promiscuous early vintage provides a lens to the impact of climate change. A sense the wines will be complex-flavoured, softly textured, delicious wines with pedigree and real class.
Of course, the story extends beyond Hawke's Bay. As our Pyramid Valley vineyards at Low Burn in Central Otago and Waikari in North Canterbury finish their harvests this week, the early signs from these remarkable cool climate sites suggest another screenplay is already taking shape.
Steve Smith MW
Founder and Estate Director
Pyramid Valley, Smith & Sheth, Lowburn Ferry
Aotearoa New Zealand Fine Wine Estates.
The first wines from Act II: Delicious – the 2025 Smith & Sheth CRU Heretaunga Rosé and Albariño – have just been released in New Zealand. Click through for details on these wines and current availability.
