Ken Forrester Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc 2021
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Golden hued and full bodied, with melon and spicy baked apple aromas. Layered, with mineral notes enhanced by honeycomb and caramel flavors from lees contact. This wine is a great example of the harmonious balance which can be achieved between fruit and delicate oak/vanilla flavors, as they combine to form complex, soft flavors with sufficient body to enhance even spicy and full flavored meals.
Can be served with varied spicy dishes, full flavored fish or chicken dishes. Ideal with crayfish, prawns
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Starting with the aromas of wax melon, the 2021 Old Vine Reserve Chenin Blanc offers a sweet frame of citrus with soft notes of dusty flowers and lees. Medium to full-bodied, the wine shows underripe peach and pineapple flavors before bursting with energetic acidity. It offers fresh citrus blossoms, a dusty mineral essence and a kiss of phenolic bitterness across the mid-palate. The wine concludes with a waxy and leesy finish with soft marzipan notes and charred lemon skin. It's delightfully pleasing and food friendly.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine is aromatic, with herbaceous and oaky notes mixed with hints of pear. The smooth palate exhibits subtle flavors of lemon, pear and chamomile. It has weight and gentle acidity. Barrel-driven spices invade the finish.
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In 1993, hospitality industry veteran Ken Forrester and his wife Teresa purchased the historic Scholtzenhof estate, nestled at the base of the Helderberg in Stellenbosch. Originally established in 1689 as Zandberg, the property is one of the oldest wine farms in the Cape. Ken enlisted the help of his winemaker friend Martin Meinert in replanting and revitalizing the vineyards, with an aim to craft a white wine that could rival any in the world! And so it was that Ken Forrester Vineyards was established, with a focus on Chenin Blanc production.
Unquestionably one of the most diverse grape varieties, Chenin Blanc can do it all. It shines in every style from bone dry to unctuously sweet, oaked or unoaked, still or sparkling and even as the base for fortified wines and spirits. Perhaps Chenin Blanc’s greatest asset is its ever-present acidity, maintained even under warm growing conditions. Somm Secret—Landing in South Africa in the mid 1800s, today the country has double the acreage of Chenin Blanc planted compared to France. There is also a new wave of dedicated producers committed to restoring old Chenin vines.
South Africa’s most famous wine-producing district, Stellenbosch, surrounds the historic town with the same name; fine winemaking here dates back to the late 1600s. Its valleys of granite, sandstone and alluvial loam soils between the towering blue-grey mountains of Stellenbosch, Simonsberg and Helderberg have the capacity to produce beautiful wines from many varieties. The climate is warm Mediterranean, tempered by the cool Atlantic air of nearby False Bay.
Perhaps most well-known for its Pinotage and Bordeaux blends, Stellenbosch also produces noteworthy wines from Syrah, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. The district’s wards—Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills and Simonsberg-Stellenbosch—all produce distinctive wines from vines with relatively low yields.