Forrest Marlborough Chenin Blanc 2018

Forrest Marlborough Chenin Blanc 2018"Pristine and elegant, the bouquet shows Gala apple, lemon zest, floral and subtle spice aromas, followed by a finely textured palate that is focused and vibrant. It is restrained and refined with lovely fruit purity backed by crisp acidity, finishing persistent and linear. Style: Off dry. At its best: 2020 to 2026" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Apr 2019 Classic ripe Chenin Blanc notes on the nose of vanilla custard, lemon curd, ripe green apple, lemon blossom

"Pristine and elegant, the bouquet shows Gala apple, lemon zest, floral and subtle spice aromas, followed by a finely textured palate that is focused and vibrant. It is restrained and refined with lovely fruit purity backed by crisp acidity, finishing persistent and linear. Style: Off-dry. At its best: 2020 to 2026" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Apr 2019

Classic ripe Chenin Blanc notes on the nose of vanilla custard, lemon curd, ripe green apple, lemon blossom and a hint of biscuity lees character. The taste; lemon curd, granny smith apple, dry straw and hints of marmite, while the palate, being full, rich and weighty, still retains Chenin’s signature crisp acidity and clean, fresh finish.

Vintage 2018 proved the age old adage that no two vintages are ever the same! It was a challenging year, especially from veraison (early February) to harvest (late March) due to unseasonable heavy and warm rain events. Spring growth conditions were excellent, early December flowering conditions ideal and summer balmy — all looked set for a cracking vintage; maybe 7–10 days early — but that’s not a bad thing. However the change in weather from February had winemakers on their toes watching for botrytis infection and praying to the weather gods for a break in the rain. We began harvest early on the 7th of March, with fruit flavours and grape health looking good, however, the detailed 10-day weather forecast showed dark clouds and prolonged rain moving in once again. As vintage 2017 began to approach, winemakers hit the accelerator and managed to have 90% of the fruit in the door before the next downfall. An ideal weather window post-rain and some good spring winds managed to dry out the canopies and finish the season perfectly for our late harvest and botrytis varieties. So all in all, for Forrest, a good vintage, with clean, varietal fruit flavours, balanced acidity and great palate weight. Some little gems have emerged in the blending sessions and we think you will be enjoying some more impressive Forrest Wines this year!

Chenin Blanc is one the world’s noble grape varietals, whose spiritual home is the Loire Valley, France. It is very vigorous in the vineyard and requires constant supervision to keep yields in check. Grapes are grown on two distinctly different sites. The Wairau River Valley; gravel rich, free draining and devigourating soil profile and the Southern Valleys vineyard; a very special site with geologically older soils composed of crushed river stones, intermixed with clay.

The grapes were machine harvested in the cool of the night, cold settled before being racked into oak fuders for fermentation. The wine is then sulfured and left on its lees for 12 months to develop depth and character, before blending and bottling in early autumn.