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south
african wine, part 1
Ken
Forrester
I'm beginning this new series on South African wine
with a visit to one of the leading proponents of Chenin Blanc, Ken
Forrester. It's sort of appropriate: it's South Africa's most widely
planted grape, and along with Pinotage it's a point of difference from
other new world wine producing countries. I'll discuss more about the
South African wine industry in later parts of this series, but I
thought it would be good to get stuck straight into the
wines.
As you might expect of a restaurateur, Ken Forrester (pictured
above) has a relaxed, easy feel about him. We met early evening at
his property in Stellenbosch. He has a beautiful house in the middle
of vineyards. A winegrower’s lot can be a tough one, but it has its
perks, sometimes.
Forrester began making wine just over a decade ago. In
10 years, production has zoomed from an initial level of 400 cases to
some 85 000; now he’s known the world over as Mr Chenin Blanc,
because it’s his work with South Africa’s oft-despised most widely
planted variety, that has raised his profile as a winegrower.
 One
of his skills is evidently his keen sense of timing. Eleven years ago
he purchased a derelict wine farm, which hadn’t been lived on for
some six years (you can see on the right what this looks like now).
This was when the industry was in the doldrums, and like a skilled
surfer he caught the South African wine industry’s wave of expansion
almost perfectly.
Forrester’s range has three tiers. At the entry level
he buys in grapes, but beyond that it’s mostly estate wine from his
38 hectares of vineyards. We began a quick vineyard tour by looking at
a young Cabernet Franc vineyard, which was planted recently for
blending with Merlot. ‘Where does 100% Merlot work
fantastically?’, he asked me. He’s currently buying in Cabernet
Franc to blend in at 8% with his Merlot, hence the decision to plant
his own. It gives pepper and depth to the wines; another facet.
‘South African winemakers were mainly trained at
Geisenheim [in Germany] in the past’, points out Forrester. ‘So
the vineyards here were planted to middle European varieties, when we
actually have more of a Mediterranean climate’. The more recent
plantings are focusing on Mediterranean varieties, and Forrester now
has some 5 year old Mourvedre to work with.
In 1999 he decided to begin conversion to organics
under the guidance of Dr Hoffman in Germany, and by 2002 he was ready
to sign on with the certifying body Ecocert. Difficult conditions (840
infections within a 3 month period) meant he lost his whole crop.
He’s still working more-or-less organically, but has decided not to
go for certification, which costs money in terms of a sign-on fee and
an annual audit.
 Forrester’s
prize vineyard is his 38 year old block of bush vine Chenin at the
front of his property (left). ‘Managing it carefully is the
key to quality’, he says. Yields are kept at 4 tons/hectare and each
bunch is left with 16–18 leaves for ripening. 6 km from the ocean,
the property enjoys climate moderation from a cool patch of air that
hangs around: he harvests his Sauvignon three weeks later than some
other parts of Stellenbosch.
The
wines
Forrester Sauvignon Blanc 2005 Stellenbosch
Nice balance here. Quite aromatic but not aggressively grassy.
Nice weight on the palate which shows rounded fruit with a good acid
core. A nice fruity style. Very good+ 87/100
Forrester Petit Chenin 2004
Lovely nose: a bit of straw, some herbs, some honey, and good
fruit. The palate has lovely weight with nice acidity, and baked apple
and herb notes. Delicious. Very good+ 87/100
Forrester Chenin Blanc 2005
Ken decided to make this to get people to take notice of Chenin
Blanc. All the consultants told him to rip Chenin out because there
was no market for it. He’s proved them wrong. This wine shows great
longevity, and Ken has examples tasting well going back to 1995, which
was the first vintage. It’s barrel-fermented with natural yeasts in
400 litre barrels. He doesn’t start picking until 23 or 24 baume
because he is happy to have some botrytis in there. The juice isn’t
clarified completely; Ken is happy to have some solids in there.
Smooth honeyed nose. The palate is quite smooth with honey and
herb-tinged fruit. Quite sophisticated while still showing some
personality. Very good+ 89/100 (UK availability: Waitrose)
FMC Chenin Blanc 2003
‘I wanted to produce a world class white wine, using Chenin
unblended, but which could stand up against anything else’, explains
Ken. ‘Unlike the Loire, we can get 7 good and 3 unbelievable
vintages each decade: perhaps one in 10 will be difficult’. Off the
record, Ken didn’t deny that the initials FMC stood for F*****g
Magic Chenin, although the official line is that they refer to
Forrester and Martin Meinert, the winemaker involved in this project
with Ken. ‘We decided to use wood’, he reports, ‘and in 1997,
1998 and 1999 we got nowhere making batches of wine from the best
vineyard’. In 2000, however, they got it right, and FMC was born.
The first commercial release was 2001. It’s wonderful stuff.
There’s lots of complexity: toast, herbs, straw, spice and meal. The
palate is rich, smooth and spicy with nice weight and texture. It
carries the 12 g/l residual sugar well. Very good/excellent 93/100 (UK
avialability: Waitrose, around £15)
Forrester Merlot 2003
Lots of varietal character here. Lovely minerally black fruits
with a subtle, chalky, herby edge. The palate is nicely savoury with
good minerality and a nice spiciness. Good fruit. Very good+ 88/100
Forrester Shiraz Grenache 2003
Really nice expressive spicy wine with a slightly reductive spicy,
smoky nose. This leads to a palate that is expressive, spicy and
tannic with a lovely savouriness. There’s nice Grenache pepperiness.
Very good+ 89/100
Forrester
Gypsy Red 2003
This was bottled the previous day. It's a blend of the best
Grenache and Shiraz, kept in barrel for 24 months (400 litre new oak
barrels). This is the third release. It has a smooth, dark, supple
fruity nose. Quite elegant. There's some new oak apparent, but it has
good integration. The palate shows smooth, spicy, elegant red and
black fruits with lots of structure. Complex and elegant, and possibly
worthy of a higher rating with age. Very good/excellent 93/100
Forrester ‘T’ Noble Late Harvest 2003
Viscous, smooth and sweet, this is a nice botrytised wine, with
the usual flavours of honey, marmalade and apricot. Very good+ 89/100
Wines tasted 12/05
Find
these wines with wine-searcher.com
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