The Paranormal Cabernet Franc 2019

SUPERNATURAL WINE CO.

Supernatural Wine Co. is a producer of certified organic, naturally vinified, low sulphur white and skin-fermented white wines from a north-facing hillside estate in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Hayden Penny is our winemaker and viticulturist.

Our philosophy relies on great terroir and traditional processes. We aim to make all of our wines as naturally as possible in order to produce true terroir driven wines. We dry farm our vineyard, we use indigenous yeast gathered from our vineyard for fermentation and we add nothing to our wines other than a little sulphur before bottling. We do not fine our wines and we have not filtered our skin-fermented wines from the 2015 vintage onwards. We want to focus on producing dry aromatic and skin-fermented white wines in a very clean and direct style.

Our vineyard at Millar Road has proven pedigree being in proximity to and on similar soils, slope and aspect as Te Mata Coleraine, one of New Zealand’s most accoladed vineyards. Over 90% of New Zealand’s vineyards are on flat land with alluvial gravel soils, so this soil and site produces very distinctive wines in a New Zealand context.

The vineyard is an amazing site for viticulture being situated on a north-facing hillside with slopes up to 30 degrees. Soils are lime-rich clay with volcanic influence – they are classified as Matapiro sandy loam over Kidnappers Group sandstone and carbonaceous mudstone.

The Millar Road property is 19.4 hectares, with 8.9 hectares planted in vines – 8.0 hectares Sauvignon Blanc (approximately 18,000 plants) and 0.9 hectares Pinot Gris (approximately 1,800 plants). Vines were planted in 2004 and 2005.

Supernatural Wine Co. obtained full organic certification with BioGro New Zealand in March 2015 and commenced biodynamic farming practices in 2015.

Supernatural Wine Co. was founded in 2009 by Millar Road owner Gregory Collinge and winemaker Gabrielle Simmers. Gabrielle now runs Salmanazar, an export collective focused on taking New Zealand’s finest organic and biodynamic wines to the world.

Tasting Note: We had a vision of a soft, fresh, uncomplicated red wine as a counterpart to our category-defying ‘The Supernatural’ white. To this end, we worked with organically-grown Cabernet Franc from Paritua Vineyard and made the wine entirely in stainless steel to avoid imparting oak characters. “A coulis of red and black fruit gives way to raw cacao, cinnamon sticks and a stony, salty core. There is a touch of prunes which is a nod to the warmer vintage. However, where fruit would usually reside front and centre in a ‘ vin de soif ’, The Paranormal has a brooding minerality instead.” – Stephen Wong MW