That ability clearly showed through at this year's Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys 2017 Wine Awards with 2015 wines across the varietal board scoring strongly.
The 2013 and 2014 vintages had been described as "stellar" affairs and the 2015 followed suit.
As did 2016, with this year's award also featuring a fine line-up from that pick.
The pursuit of determining the supreme award was, accordingly, "extremely difficult" given what the winemakers had created and put forward, Mr Easthope said.
For Hawke's Bay Winemakers Association chairman Michael Henley the stakes, in terms of winemaking prowess and devotion to creating exceptional wines, had gone way up.
While the 2017 vintage had been rain affected it would not suffer in terms of what was produced, he said.
Winemakers and viticulturists prepared and planned for potential climatic issues, and harvested and refined accordingly.
"We don't chase quantity in Hawke's Bay. It is all about chasing quality."
That showed during the judging process for this year's awards.
Mr Easthope said it had become clear it was no longer a case of making one-off greats from great vintages, and that word emerged again.
"Hawke's Bay vineyards and winemakers are delivering something more akin to real pedigree, rather than one-off wines from the best vintages."
The industry across the region was, effectively, "booming".
For Church Road Winery chief winemaker Chris Scott it was pretty much a case of staying on a determined learning curve.
"We are all learning and particularly how to handle those less than perfect vintages better."
One of the personal high points in his career had been creating the 2012 McDonald Series because that was a vintage well short of what was to come.
But that wine picked up a major award at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards.
The 2015 McDonald Series Syrah has also sparked - taking the Reserve Champion of Show at last Tuesday night's Hawke's Bay awards.
Mr Scott agreed with Mr Henley about chasing quality.
"That focus on quality is so important," he said, adding that one essential ingredient to that was the "perfect" region winemakers had to work with.
He said there had been a big change in focus on where to plant grapes in Hawke's Bay, with more and more of that focus on stonier, more free-draining soils.
"And the other thing we are now seeing is good vine age."
A lot of the vines planted in the late 90s and the immediate years after that were now "coming into their own" and regions like the Bridge Pa triangle reflected that.
The growth in international accolades for the region's fine wines was reflecting the devotion to creating something remarkable, and staying firmly on the continual learning curve, coupled with the terroir and maturing of vines.
Syrah and chardonnay in particular were up with the very best, and the international wine media has placed the Bay up there with the Barossa Valley and Northern Rhone as a place for producing the very best syrahs.
"The syrah category is always a real drawcard and one I can say Hawke's Bay leads in," Mr Easthope said.
"Hawke's Bay used to stick to its knitting with the classic varieties from France. Now we are seeing a more adventurous approach with what we can produce," he said, predicting there would be steady growth with the emerging reds as they "take a permanent foothold in the Hawke's Bay terroir".
Clearview Estate has successfully seen the evolution of the industry, and particularly the growth of fine chardonnay through the years, and picked up a trophy at the awards for its 2015 Endeavour Chardonnay.
"Chardonnay grows so well in Te Awanga - the offshore breeze in the morning and the offshore breeze in the afternoon means there is no humidity and that allows us to hold the fruit until it is ripe," winemaker Matt Kirby said.
He said the result was superb acid base and freshness which means the winemaking crew could play with various fermentations to meet consumer palates.
Clearview co-owner Tim Turvey said the chardonnay awards began to arrive in 1992 and there had always been a strong devotion within the viticulture and winemaking teams to maintain that.
For winemaker Rod McDonald site selection, based on what varieties were involved, was crucial, and Hawke's Bay had the terrain to provide those varied sites.
"It is one of our great strengths - it is very much about viticulture and people have a better understanding of the sites. We are honing it."
The improvements in site selection and the continuing development of new techniques in winemaking had pushed the region to the forefront in terms of producing fine wines across a range of varieties.
"It is our point of difference."
And he agreed with his winemaking colleagues that it was not about "just filling tanks - it is about quality".
That had already shone through for the more weather-challenged 2017 vintage and Mr McDonald said some great wines would come out of it - which had already been underlined at the Tuesday awards with Church Road taking the Pinot Gris Trophy with its 2017 Pinot Gris.
