This year marks the return of this bottling, which had been on hiatus since 2011, as the company restructured its plantings in the Gimblett Gravels. The 170 cases of 2016 Les Beaux Cailloux Chardonnay consist of Mendoza Clone from Block 19, planted between 2009 and 2011. All barrel-fermented and aged in 40% new French oak barriques, this medium-bodied wine is smoky and flinty on the nose, toasty but crisp and lean, with just enough honeyed peach and pineapple fruit to balance out its grapefruity essence and tart, lingering finish.

The 2009 “Les Beaux Cailloux” Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay displays lovely ripe peach and nectarine aromas with some lemon curd, cream and toasty cedar and a subtle touch of meal. Crisp, taut and concentrated with a medium body, it gives a satiny texture in the mouth and a long layered finish. Drinking now, it should cellar through 2015. Importer: Kobrand Corp., New York, NY; tel. (212) 490-9300

After a perplexing ’07, the 2008 Les Beaux Caillou is back on form. It has an “animated” bouquet at this early stage, but it gains intensity in the glass with notes of chalk dust, cooking apples, a hint of pear and greengage. The palate is medium-bodied with a lovely, sensuous mouth-feel, hints of bitter lemon, lime cordial and white peach, leading to a refined finish. This Chardonnay unfurls beautifully in the mouth. Drink now-2018. The wines from Craggy Range were tasted both in Hawkes Bay in January 2010 and then in London six months later. Steve Smith, Rod Easthope and the team continue to furnish consumers with a wide portfolio of terroir-based wines that satisfy both the value and prestige end of the market. Having tasted many of their wines, there is no doubt that they have ‘toned down’ their style, the initial releases being rather hubristic and a tad top-heavy with oak. This sense of refinement has lent the wines greater poise and breeding. Their reds are still their strongest suit, in particular their flagship labels such as ‘Le Sol’ and ‘Sophia’, but do not overlook their Chardonnays that exude great purity and Burgundian poise. Meanwhile their ‘Wild Rock’ entry-level range, which is treated as a completely separate entity to Craggy Range, contains some delightful varietals that form a neat introduction to the delights of Hawkes Bay’s wines. Importer: Kobrand Corp., New York, NY; tel. (212) 490-9300.