There was James Nelson Williams, who began the first successful food crop business east of Hastings, and James Wattie, the great industrialist who helped turn the region into a bountiful fruit bowl.
Later, there were the likes of the Corban and Glazebrook families, who converted what were racing stables into Ngatarawa Wines in the early 1980s, amid an exciting second generation of winegrowing.
Over the next three decades, the number of wineries would rise from eight to around 50, many clustered around the Bridge Pa Triangle and Gimblett Gravels sub-regions.
With the booms in winegrowing, horticulture and cuisine has come a colourful wave of artisans.
A few, like Raymond van Rijk, can define their influence nearly to a number.
Chef Raymond van Rijk.
If you've been to a weekend barbecue in Hawkes Bay and noticed the fare was a far cry from a value-pack grill-up, there's a good probability the person handling the tongs is one of the Dutchman's former students.
Given 5000 locals have taken his night-time courses in gourmet barbecue, he estimates three out of six guys at a party would be ably qualified to apply meat to flame.
Hawkes Bay, he confidently attests, can thus claim the title of New Zealand's barbecue capital.
On this naturally blue and dry Hastings morning, Mr van Rijk is setting up his Weber charcoal grill in front of the old stables at Ngatarawa.
Gourmet BBQ chef Raymond van Rijk pictured testing the coals on his trusty Weber barbecue. Photo / Alan Gibson
We'd asked him to prepare something that tells of Hawkes Bay, and which Ngatarawa senior winemaker Peter Gough could match with an appropriate vintage.
So he chose salmon - a great pink steak of it - and a curious marinade crafted with capers, grain mustard, mayonnaise, brown sugar and dark rum.
Having lit the charcoals and oiled the grill, he carefully plucks the tiny bones from the salmon and then smothers it with the creamy mixture.
For a professional chef, tutor and former competitor in the World Barbecue Association's championships it's amusing to think that Mr van Rijk learned the craft by accident.
It began with a revolution.
His family had enjoyed a comfortable life in Indonesia before it was declared independent from the Dutch government in the late 1940s.
Mr van Rijk was about 7 when the family was forced to move back to the mother country, losing everything in the process.
In the Netherlands, his mother fell back on her natural cooking skills, which had been spiced up by Indonesian cuisine. The result was mouthwatering barbecue, made from scratch.
Mr van Rijk and his brothers found that taking an interest in their mother's cooking would be rewarded with sips of beer.
"The end result was that, out of a family of five children, the three boys can cook - but the two girls can't."
He joined a military academy, became a champion fencer, then followed his heart to the prestigious Maastricht, School of Hotel Management.
His vigour for innovation on the barbecue, fired by his mother's teachings, couldn't be quelled.
Even while living in the third-storey of a student flat in the dead of winter, he'd simply push the snow from the gutter and fire up some Indonesian chicken on his hibachi charcoal grill.
Watch: BBQ in Hawkes Bay
In 1979, he took a job in Auckland, then moved to the country's first winery restaurant, Vidal's in Hastings.
The beauty of Hawkes Bay - its beaches, ranges and balmy climate - scotched his plans to work in the Pacific Islands.
But his first taste of Kiwi barbecuing left him less impressed.
The standard was a half-40 gallon drum topped with steel, and as many chops and sausages as you could eat.
"We had a lot of fun, but it had more to do with the amount of alcohol we were drinking, rather than the quality of food that was produced."
Even restaurant menus did little to inspire him, though that began to change with the arrival of some trail-blazing chefs.
"With the growth of the wine industry and tourism, there was an influx of foreigners who brought new flavours into the Bay, and some of the chefs had an enormous influence on the cuisine."
He joined the effort with his own restaurant, halfway up Te Mata Peak, but the lively fare now being dished up in many eateries still wasn't following through to backyard grills.
Mr van Rijk could no longer bear it: "People had no idea about temperature; there was only one temperature, and that was full-on."
So 14 years ago, he began hosting classes, teaching such fundamentals as how to bone a leg of lamb and how to grill a slab of fish - which many were reluctant to put near a burner. After four weeks, the master had schooled his charges well enough that they could work with 50 unlabelled containers of different herbs and spices.
"I basically teach principles more than recipes, so if you understand the principle, the recipe is easy. That's what my objective is, to make you feel confident and also experienced."
Mr van Rijk's weapon of choice is a portable Weber. That's clear enough from watching him scoop the white-hot charcoals to either side, creating indirect heat, before lowering the salmon into the middle and placing the hood on. But a gas barbecue is still a fine choice, and especially efficient for day-to-day grilling.
When it comes to wine, he leaves that to the experts.
Like Mr van Rijk , Peter Gough joined the food and wine scene as it was burgeoning. "We are on old river beds, so the soils are quite free-draining and with all that heat, we are able to ripen some interesting grape varieties like syrah, merlot, cabernet sauvignons and chardonnays," he said.
Mr Gough loves the richness of Hawkes Bay wine; its warmth, its flavours, its fine balance.
To complement Mr van Rijk's salmon, Mr Gough picks a classic: chardonnay.
The acid from the capers with the sweetness of the rum is brought out by the chardonnay in a flash of flavours.
A bus load of tourists are lucky enough to be there for the serving, and most react in astonishment after sampling the salmon.
Mr van Rijk appears unsurprised at this, but he can't help but smile at seeing people experience truly great barbecue for the first time.
Welcome to Hawkes Bay, the barbecue capital of New Zealand. "We cook outside, we eat outside," Mr Gough says. "And I'd like to think that it's a friendly place here. I think the warmth of the area makes the people warmer. I like it."
Raymond's grilled salmon with horseradish, rum, mustard and capers
Raymond van Rijk used some of his own rubs and other ingredients to flavour a salmon fillet. Photos/ Alan Gibson
1 Debone one side of salmon (enough for eight entree-sized portions) with skin left on
2 Combine 4 tsp of quality horseradish, 4 tsp mayonnaise, 4 tsp honey, 4 tsp grain mustard, 4 tsp of brown sugar, 4 tsp of dark rum, 2 tsp of fresh dill, 2 tsp of capers, juice from half a lemon, rock salt and ground black pepper into a mixture to coat on top of the salmon. Let sit for 15 minutes.
3 Position on barbecue (preheated to about 200C) to receive indirect high heat. Cook for 12-15 minutes, checking that the thickest part separates easily.
4 Serve with or on pieces of sliced baguette.
The series
Today: A snapper safari in a mussel town
Tomorrow: Hangi the Rotorua way
Wednesday: Smoking on the Tongariro
Thursday: The barbecue capital of New Zealand
Friday: Kaimoana on the coast.
