Bay has rich spread of options at this year's Winter F.A.W.C!

Winemaker Tony Bish, Hawke's Bay Tourism's Annie Dundas and Winter F.A.W.C! event manager Becs Collier by the fire at Shed 2 in Napier. Photo / Duncan Brown

Tickets to this year's Winter F.A.W.C! event have been selling out fast but there's still a rich smorgasbord of options for those keen to sample the food and wine experiences on offer.

With more than 60 events spanning four weekends over June the celebrations begin this Friday with one of the larger items on the programme, the Fine Wines of New Zealand Dinner hosted by Craggy Range.

Here, acclaimed chef and MasterChef judge Josh Emett would be teaming up with Craggy Range head chef Casey McDonald to deliver a menu comprising local produce matched with top-of-the-range Hawke's Bay wines.

Hawke's Bay Tourism general manager Annie Dundas said both local people and out-of-towners had shown a lot of interest in the programme, pre-sales for which reached record numbers last month, making this likely to be the best Winter F.A.W.C! yet.

"The true F.A.W.C!ers get in early - they know they need to get in and book, but there are still a lot of smaller events available that I'm excited about."

One with a different flavour is this Friday's Dining at Downton, being held at Ormlie Lodge, pitched as a chance to be a part of gourmet grandeur with the recreation of Mrs Patmore's remarkable dishes.

Guests are invited to dress as their favourite Downton Abbey character, from Edwardian to Art Deco, and escape into the early 1900s for one night.

Spaces are also still available this weekend to two events featuring renowned New Zealand chef Michael Meredith, whose charitable pursuits include advising for Eat My Lunch, a social enterprise that since inception has given free lunches to more than 300,000 children in decile 1 and 2 schools.

This Saturday, he will be giving a cooking demonstration and providing lunch at Sileni Estates with a focus on winter produce.

On Sunday, June 3, he will join Orton Tailored Cuisine and Nourished for Nil at The Old Church to create a menu based on food gathered by Nourished for Nil, at the same time talking about his life, ventures and passions.

A feature of Winter F.A.W.C! is the line-up of smaller events that range from wine tastings to meals cooked on and shared around a fire pit and truffle hunts.

As well as the feature events, from June 1 to 24 selected restaurants and cafes in Hastings, Napier, Havelock North and Te Awanga were offering dining deals ranging in price between $15 and $50.

To find out more about what's on offer and buy tickets go to www.fawc.co.nz.