Sophia is Craggy Range's Merlot-led flagship red, grown on the stony Gimblett Gravels in Hawke's Bay and made at the family's Giants Estate winery.
The 2024 is dark, dense and firm: ripe plum and blackberry, violets, new oak and a tannin grip that wants years rather than hours. Cameron Douglas MS rated it 96 POINTS and recommends that it will be fantastic drinking in 2032.
If you open it tonight it will taste young, all fruit and muscle, with the oak still sitting apart from everything else - so you will need to decant it. If you can cellar it for 6 or 7 years, the parts will knit wonderfully together. That is the whole proposition here, and the 2024 looks like a vintage worth the wait.
We stock Sophia because it is one of a small number of New Zealand reds that genuinely improves for a decade or more, and 2024 was a great vintage. Two independent 96 POINTS scores back that up. This is a birthday or a long-lunch wine, or one to put away and forget; it is not what you open on a Wednesday. If you want a Hawke's Bay red for this Saturday, then we'd recommend the Craggy Range Te Kahu from the same vineyard, which is made to drink now and is very good at it.
Craggy Range released the 2024 to its Prestige Wine Club members, not widely to the trade, our special allocation was small.
The Gimblett Gravels produce a lot of fine Merlot-led reds, and most are built to be enjoyed within a few years of release, which is why they are popular. Sophia is aimed at the other end of that arc. It comes off Craggy Range's own vineyard, where the Merlot vines are now more than 25 years old, and older vines crop smaller and give more concentrated fruit.
The 2024 is 79% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet Franc is the grape behind the violet perfume that lifts the whole wine. Each block was fermented separately in closed-top French oak vats for 21 to 23 days, aged in French oak on its own, then blended and given a further six months in barrel to knit together.
What it tastes like
Dark fruit first, and plenty of it. Ripe plum and blackberry, violets sitting over the top, and behind that a savoury edge that Cameron Douglas describes as nettles, new leather and wood smoke. The new oak present as clove and vanilla rather than anything sweeter. It is full-bodied and feels it: dense, dry, with real grip from the tannin - which is the drying, slightly furry sensation on your gums that comes off the grape skins and the barrels. Enough acidity runs underneath to stop it feeling heavy. The finish is long and it keeps shifting, fruit then acid, then fruit again.
Right now this is a wine of power rather than charm. That is normal for young Sophia. Just give it time.
Style at a glance
- Body: full
- Sweetness: dry
- Acidity: medium to high, and it keeps the wine fresh
- Tannin: firm, fine-grained, needs years
- Oak: French oak, fermented and aged in it. Clove and vanilla now, and it will fold into the fruit with age
- Style: concentrated, structured, savoury, cellar-worthy, long
Food
If you do open it young, decant it for an hour or two and put serve something fatty and with protein to soften the tannin. Slow-roasted lamb shoulder would be delicious. Or a rare rib-eye with peppercorn sauce, braised beef cheeks, venison with juniper, duck confit, or a mushroom and thyme pie if you are not eating meat. A wedge of aged Gouda at the end of the night works too. The less obvious pick is a lamb tagine with prunes, where the dried fruit in the dish meets the plum in the glass and both get better.
Who makes it
Craggy Range was established in 1998 by Terry and Mary Peabody and is still run by the family, now across three generations with David Peabody at the helm, with the estate held in a thousand-year family trust so it cannot easily be sold out from under them. Sophia is made at their Giants Estate winery in Hawke's Bay. The name comes from the Greek word for wisdom.
About the vintage
2024 was a very good year for New Zealand and Hawke's Bay in particular. James Suckling went as far as asking whether it may be the country's greatest vintage, describing a dry but fresh season that gave wines of striking intensity and precision, whites and reds alike.
In Hawke's Bay it was also a small harvest: the regional crop was down 20 to 30% on recent years and the harvest was small but beautiful, with the reduced crop feeding straight into quality. Fewer bunches on the vine means the same leaf area ripening less fruit, which has delivered a concentrated vintage that is evident in this wine.
A dry season matters more for Merlot than for most grapes. New Zealand Winegrowers put it plainly: Merlot can be challenging in the Hawke's Bay climate, but drier years give fleshy, flavoursome wines from carefully chosen sites. The Gimblett Gravels is about as carefully chosen as a site gets, its free-draining stony soils built for exactly this problem, and in a dry year the combination does what it is supposed to. The Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend behaves the same way, bringing impressive structure with classic dark fruit and spice.
For Hawke's Bay more widely, 2024 is a year worth buying across the board rather than from just one producer. Hawke's Bay is New Zealand's second largest wine region and red blends are hallmarks as one of the two things it does best, singling out the Gimblett Gravels and the neighbouring Bridge Pa Triangle as home to some of the region's finest wines.
If you are building a case of Hawke's Bay reds, this is a vintage to build it from, and Sophia is one of several in the region worth the cellar space.
Critic scores and ratings
- 96 POINTS – Cameron Douglas MS – camdouglasms.com, July 2026 – “Ripe and voluptuous with signatures of dark berries and plums, nettles and blackberry, new wood, new leather, wood smoke and stony dark clay earth ideas... a lengthy and complex finish, a wine to let settle and develop with best drinking from 2032 through 2040+.”
- 96 POINTS – Stephen Wong MW – as listed by Craggy Range
When to drink it
Craggy Range says drink now or cellar 15 or more years from vintage. Cameron Douglas is more precise: best from 2032 through 2040 and beyond. We would side with Cameron Douglas. If you want to open one before then, decant it and serve with food.
Technical details
| Winery |
Craggy Range |
| Wine |
Sophia |
| Vintage |
2024 |
| Variety |
79% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Region |
Gimblett Gravels, Hawke's Bay |
| Country |
New Zealand |
| Alcohol |
14% |
| Fermentation |
21–23 days in closed-top French oak vats, each block separately |
| Oak |
French oak. Blocks aged separately, then the final blend a further six months in barrel |
| Closure |
Screw cap |
| Cellaring |
15+ years from vintage (Craggy Range); best 2032–2040+ (Cameron Douglas MS) |
| Serving temperature |
16–18°C |
Where to buy
For international delivery to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, the Craggy Range Sophia 2024 is available via our winenz.com website. For delivery in New Zealand you can purchase from thewineryonline.co.nz. If you are visiting New Zealand, you can also buy it, and taste a large range of New Zealand fine wines at our Queenstown and Arrowtown stores. This was a club release rather than a trade release, so it is not widely stocked and our stock will not last long.
Questions we are often asked
What does Craggy Range Sophia 2024 taste like?
Plum, blackberry and violets, with clove and vanilla from new oak and a savoury, smoky edge. Craggy Range Sophia 2024 is full-bodied and dry with firm tannin and a long finish, and it tastes tight and young until it has some years on it.
What grapes are in Craggy Range Sophia 2024?
79% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, all off Craggy Range's own vineyard. That makes it a Bordeaux-style blend led by Merlot rather than by Cabernet Sauvignon, which is the more usual arrangement in Hawke's Bay's top reds.
What food goes with Craggy Range Sophia?
Roast lamb, rib-eye, braised beef cheeks, venison, duck confit or aged hard cheese. The tannin in this Hawke's Bay Merlot blend needs fat and protein to soften against, so richer dishes suit it best.
How long can I cellar Craggy Range Sophia 2024?
Craggy Range says 15 or more years from vintage. Cameron Douglas MS narrows the best drinking to 2032 through 2040 and beyond. If you open a bottle before 2032, decant it first.
What score did Craggy Range Sophia 2024 get?
96 POINTS from Cameron Douglas MS in July 2026, and 96 POINTS from Stephen Wong MW as listed by Craggy Range.
Was 2024 a good vintage in Hawke's Bay?
Yes, and a small one. The regional crop came in 20 to 30% down on recent years, which concentrated the fruit, and the season was dry, which suits Merlot in particular. James Suckling asked whether 2024 was New Zealand's greatest vintage.
Where can I buy Craggy Range Sophia 2024?
The Winery ships Craggy Range Sophia 2024 internationally from winenz.com to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, and delivers within New Zealand from thewineryonline.co.nz. It is also available in our Queenstown and Arrowtown stores.
