Forged in Fire, Michael F. Spratt
Published by Mary Egan Publishing
1 September 2026
Hardback, 224 Pages, RRP $40.00
ISBN: 978-1-991436-17-7
Available to pre-order soon
An Impossible Place Meets Improbable People: The Story of Destiny Bay Wines
Eighty million years in the making. When Ann and Mike Spratt stood on a hill on Waiheke Island, they didn’t see a vineyard. They saw a quirk of nature. A north-facing amphitheatre shaped valley that could trap and reflect heat. They were told making world-class Cabernet blends in New Zealand was a fool's errand. They were told the standards they set were financially suicidal. They did it anyway.
Forged in Fire is the story of how a small family travelled from one side of the world to the other side and redefined the limits of New Zealand wine. It is a journey of discovery, heartbreak, redemption and triumph when a small island estate outshined the great First Growths of France. This is destiny.
About the Author
Michael F. Spratt, Ph.D., is a co-founder, director, and proprietor of Destiny Bay Wines Ltd. A respected leader in the viticultural community, he served for three years on the Board of New Zealand Winegrowers, representing the interests of over six hundred small-scale producers, and is a past President of the Waiheke Winegrowers Association.
Before turning his expertise to the vineyard, Dr. Spratt established a distinguished career in global business consulting. He was a partner at PwC and previously held partner-level roles with the Mercer Consulting Group and Hay Management Consultants. His academic foundation includes a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from San Jose State University.
An accomplished author, Dr. Spratt has published two acclaimed books: Grape-A-Hol, an incisive look at how corporate interests impact artisan winemaking and the future of fine wine, and Five Frogs on a Log, a CEO’s field guide to accelerating the transition in mergers, acquisitions, and gut-wrenching change.
Destiny Bay is a tiny corner of Waiheke Island, New Zealand – gently contoured like an ancient amphitheatre with a maritime Mediterranean climate, producing acclaimed Cabernet blends.
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