Catching up with Gregory Collinge, with a swag of new wines in his bag this week. A new edition of his bestseller The Supernatural Sauvignon Blanc from their spectacular Hawke’s Bay vineyard, but also a line-up of collaborative efforts from Millton in Gisborne, and Cambridge Road in Martinborough. These set of four wines are to be released in February. Gregory describes it as “a slight re-brand. There will be similarities to the old labels obviously – actually quite a lot of familiarity, but a new suite of labels”.
Happy to welcome back another expression of one of my favourite ‘natural’ wines – The Supernatural 2022. It is, of course, from the Hawke’s Bay vineyard; and has, of course, has plenty of skin contact before pressing. Full malo rounds out the wine – it is textural and funky, phenolic and edgy, smooth and vibrant. Delicious green and gold flavours – sorrel, grapefruit pith, apricot and nectarine, passionfruit and pear. Elements of yeast – like a good fino sherry, and then a little baking spice and pepper brings it back to the more familiar. A great wine from a not-so-great vintage – look for this on good wine lists from next month.
Gregory has this to say about his ‘signature wine’ – “The vintage was challenging, very wet. We lost the Pinot Gris, but the Savvy is a bit more resilient, with thicker skins. It all came off quite early – just under 20 brix, but it was the biggest yield ever off the vineyard, despite the weather. We got just over 60 tonnes. It’s had no intervention, basically, and it behaved very well. Six hours on skins and then pressed. All fermentation in stainless steel and then just let it go through malo, stirring once a month on the new moon. The theory is if you do it then, you’re not getting the tidal pull on flavours, so you’re not releasing too many aromas if you do it at the new moon.”
The second white ‘Gisborne Green Glow’ is quite out of the ordinary – a blend of 63% Muscat and 37% Marsanne, from Millton’s Opou vineyard, in a bone dry style. With seven days of skin contact, it is explosively aromatic, with a blowse of pot pourri, preserved lemon, pineapple, roses, apricot, nutmeg and almond on the nose. Just the most delicious aromatics. The palate then confounds with the minerality and dryness. A pithy, citric acidity donates a zesty flow through the layers – phenolic and yeasty, ending up in a swaddle of waxy texture. The finish isn’t too long, but has a drying, bitter astringency that is quite mouthwatering, and really suits the wine, drawing you back for another sip.
There’s a new remix of The Paranormal for 2022 – whereas the first was a brilliant, wild and crunchy 100% Cabernet Franc – the new wine is a blend of Syrah (65%) and Malbec (35%) sourced from Millton in Gisborne. The grapes being hand harvested from Millton’s Te Arai vineyard (Malbec) and Opou and Clos de Ste Anne vineyards (Syrah). The two parcel both had carbonic fermentations with 30% whole bunches in wooden cuvée before being pressed. Indigenous yeats and full malo. Bright, youthful, and dare I say – smashable. This would take a chill well, and is just bursting with tangy fruit – unadorned and primary. Violets, red liquorice, cherry and allspice. As it warms up, there is a little leather and moss, even some hibiscus florals on the palate. A great new wine.
Gregory poses the question whether “Some people might struggle with it being bone dry, and Muscat? And, in both the Millton wines you can really taste their terroir – there’s something specific about it. Because they’ve been farmed biodynamically for forty years, and proper old vines. I always want my wines to be on that salty, minerally spectrum. I never want them to be fruit-dominant. The red is designed to be chilled.”
The new Pinot – named ‘The Quiet Earth’ isn’t an instant classic Martinborough Pinot. Taking fruit from both Cambridge Rd Home Block and Cirrus Estate – it has the pedigree, but is taking a different path to most. Fresh, with elements of whole bunch (37%) – look for a wispy aromatic perfume that is quite delicate but beguiling. Carbonic maceration features – think of a robust pop, and a crunch of ripeness to the fruit. Very clean, and just enough ‘Pinosity’ to establish varietal. An earthy, quartzy minerality and bright juicy acidity. The finish shows some more spice and pepper, and has that prickle of tannin showing up as a tingle on the tongue.
“A Martinborough Pinot, but not as you know it” is how Gregory introduces this new wine. “I had a wine called ‘Huntress’ made by a female winemaker from Urlar, and wanted to make something as good as that. It’s got five Pinot Noir clones, and from two sites – the Cirrus Estate has that metallic, minerally element out there. It has that dry, marmite-y astringency which is one thing that I remember from Dry River Pinot Noir, which is obviously that site coming through, with very similar characteristics”.
