Supernatural Wine Co. “The Super-Nat”
Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand | 2020
Full disclosure: I am not normally someone who seeks out either a Pet-Nat or a Sauvignon Blanc if given my druthers, but this is one of my favorite exceptions that happens to be both in one. In 2019 I took a leave of absence from my wine gig and decided to hop the modest flight over to New Zealand to work the harvest chasing it from the North to the South Island in a 1997 Nissan “Joy” that I knighted my “station dragon”, and along the way I came upon the quaint appellation of Hawke’s Bay. This is where the winery Supernatural Wine Co rests and is by far one of the most beautiful sites I was able to visit during my travels as it’s filled with undulating hills that frame the mists in the distance billowing off the Pacific Ocean.
Outside of having a ball being hosted by the winery’s founder Gregory Collinge who put us up in one of their stunning villas, this was truly the most unique expression of Sauvignon Blanc that I experienced during my stay in New Zealand. Most of us know NZ “Sauvi B” wines as being sent to the US in bulk and rarely having a uniqueness that defines one from the other. Supernatural wines are very singular in style because of a few differences: they are all extended skin-contact unfiltered biodynamic white wines from somewhere else that is not Marlborough! I honestly didn’t know what to expect with these differences, but I soon realized how much I had been missing out. Not only were all of these “natural” wines clean, they were delicious and unlike anything else I have ever tasted in a Sauvignon Blanc: dominant green apple and lemon curd driven by an incredible gingery cream finish and wafts of rosemary and honey.
Outside of this wine, New Zealand also produces some incredible world class wines that are not always the grassy Sauvignon Blancs we’re used to seeing in the market. Be sure to try out other appellations besides Marlborough and seek out Chardonnays from Hawke’s Bay and Nelson, or Pinot Noirs and Rieslings from Central Otago. There are so many hidden gems all throughout the islands that really make New Zealand stand out—you just have to know where to find them!