Our Philosophy
We strive to manage our vineyards in a sustainable manner. Our workplace environment and work ethic should be a shining light in the industry.
Ken Forrester’s philosophy has always been to create a range of handcrafted, individually made wines that suitably complement a wide variety of food styles and provide excellent value. Our winemaking is targeted at three distinctly different tiers, reflecting the demand from the market.
The Petit Range
We make a range of elegant, affordable wines, crafted for everyday drinking, wines to be opened and enjoyed lightheartedly after a day at work or with a friend, this is our Petit range.
The Reserve Range
These wines include fruit selection from older vineyards hence the Reserve wines always showing more depth of character and concentration. These are ideal food wines with structure and elegeance.
The Icon Range
Single Parcel vines, where an older special vineyard like a small postage stamp on the map, produces exceptional fruit and extremely low yields and here we attempt to make a statement of purity, intensity, complex concentration of fruit and elegant balance. These wines are crafted in small quantities and continually score extremely high points across all rating scales locally and internationally.
How to make the perfect Chenin
All I can say is “I wish I knew”.
Each year, each vintage, each harvest is different – different rainfall, climatic differences, rainfall, temperatures etc. and all of this way beyond the control of the winemaker. The one thing that is very clear, is the fact that the flavours in the vineyard will dictate the style and flavour of wine you make. Sun-ripened fruit with its glorious yellow, the golden hue will taste different to the darker green fruit hiding, luxuriating in the shade of the canopy. Chenin is the most delicious wine and it is totally at home barefoot or in high heels and a dinner suit. It’s the ability to wear so many mantles is quite fascinating and something of ongoing exploration for me.
Up there, with the world’s finest
It’s a little known fact, but a fact all the same, that South African Chenin Blanc wines are among the world’s finest. It’s also a fact that there is a group of visionary South African wine producers who are, not only fast spreading the word, but also continually providing hard evidence by producing Chenin Blanc wines of increasingly remarkable quality. They’re giving this noble variety royal treatment in the vineyard and cellar, and it’s responding as nobility should – with grand personality, regal flavours and stately versatility.
Ken Forrester, AKA Mr. Chenin, has had a profound impact on the South African wine industry as a flag-bearer for Chenin Blanc, a founder of the very successful Chenin Blanc Association, and a passionate spokesman for all that is Chenin. Producing more than 7 different Chenins in all their different guises ensures that there is a Chenin Blanc to suit every palate at Ken Forrester.
Integrity & Sustainability
The seal means the South African Wine and Spirit Board certifies:
- The vintage, variety and origin that are shown on the label are correct
- The wine has been produced sustainably, in an earth-friendly manner
- The wine can be traced all the way from the vine to the bottle
- It was bottled in South Africa – so it is 100% South African!