Sexy Syrah from Gimblet Gravels
We have the pleasure of telling you about another auspicious international award given to Forrest Wines, this time our John Forrest Collection Syrah 2006 has been awarded a Gold Medal at the famous 2010 International Wine Challenge, judged in London.

This wine also won gold in the 2009 Tri-Nations Wine Challenge, together with the rave reviews from leading wine critics such as Huon Hooke and Bob Campbell MW:

This award for the John Forrest Collection Syrah and with the recent Decanter UK review for our JFC Chardonnay reinforces John Forrest as an internationally recognized wine maker crafting exceptional wines from key wine making regions in NZ.

With only 60 x 6 packs of this wine remaining in NZ it should become a great wine to consider adding to your cellar.

"From Hawkes Bay's famous Gimblett Gravels, this is a cool-climate shiraz with lots of black pepper and spice aromas. Medium-bodied, soft and finely balanced, it has smooth, gentle tannins. Good now but should keep for 10 years. 93/100". Tasting was by Huon Hooke

“Dense yet elegant Syrah with a range of flavours from floral to dark berry and from chocolate to black olive plus a seasoning of cracked black pepper. Fruit is supported by firm yet sweet, ripe fruit tannins and classy oak that, while clearly evident, allows varietal flavours to occupy centre-stage. Quite youthful wine that shows plenty of cellaring potential. Made from grapes grown in the Gimblett Gravels area of Hawke's Bay.” Bob Campbell, April 2009 95 Points, 5 Stars

Forrest Scoops 90 Points in the Winespectator
Winespectator May 2010 editionForrest Pinot Noir Marlborough 2008

Light and fragrant, with pretty pomegranate and raspberry fruit against hints of iris and talc as the finish lingers beautifully. Drink now through 2014.—H.S.

Sustainable Forrest
It is with great pleasure that we can tell you that as of April 2010, all our vineyards and our winery in Marlborough have been accredited part of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand. This means we are doing everything within our power to sustainably produce wines of the highest quality with the good of the environment always in mind. We are constantly striving to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

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NOT TO BE MISSED Salmonella DJ Soundsystem
As if this weekend was not big enough!!! A leisurely afternoon event from 1.30pm till 4pm for all the family to enjoy. Food and drink will be sold on site, just come along, relax and listen to the music on what should be a Sunday afternoon in Renwick not to be missed.

Adults $20 per person
Family package $40
Youth and Grape Riders $10.00 per person

Forrest Sauvignon Blanc 2008 Scores 95 Points
2008 Forrest Estate Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
A mini-vertical tasting of Forrest sauvignon blancs back to ’06 (and ’01 as a back-marker) showed some sauvignons can age well. Screwcaps have, of course, moved the goalposts. Still very pale and no less fresh, with light floral/passionfruit elements, this is a wine of extreme elegance built on a minerally, citrus-nuanced framework. 13% alc/vol; screwcap
Rating: 95 points
Drink: to 2013
Price: $21.75 AUD
Distributed by Vintner Partners (Qld, Vic, NSW
ph 1300 856 389); Empire Liquor (SA ph (08) 8371 0088)

Forrest Wins 5 Gold Medals at Air NZ Wine Awards
Here are the results of our medal tally from the Air NZ Wine Awards

Forrest The Doctors' Riesling 2009 - Gold
John Forrest Collection Chardonnay 2004 - Gold
Forrest The Valleys Wairau Gewurztraminer 2008 - Gold
Forrest Botrytised Riesling 2008 - Gold
Forrest Riesling 2009 - Silver
Forrest Chardonnay 2007 - Silver
John Forrest Collection Noble Riesling 2005 - Silver
Forrest The Valleys Wairau Gewurztraminer 2009 - Bronze
Forrest The Valleys Brancott Riesling 2007 - Bronze
John Forrest Collection Riesling 2006 - Bronze
Forrest The Doctors' Arneis 2009 - Bronze
Forrest Botrytised Riesling 2007 - Bronze

Latest Review of the Doctors' 9.5 Sauv Blanc 2009
A sauvignon blanc with just 9.5 per cent alcohol is intriguing to say the least. The Doctors' sauvignon blanc has just that and, being nosy individuals, we were keen to know how this was achieved.

On a visit to the Forrest Estate cellar door, home to the quirky The Doctors' label, we asked Dan Taylor, sales and marketing manager, how it came about.

"The winemaking is top secret," he replied, suffice to say it took three years' experimentation to get the taste right.

After we'd tasted the wine, Peter's memory banks started to hum and the words "spinning cone column" suddenly came to mind. Here's one way of removing alcohol from wine ...

Spinning cone columns can be used in a form of steam distillation that gently extracts volatile chemicals ( such as alcohol) from liquid foods while minimising the effect on the taste of the product. Essential oil extraction from botanicals, herbs and spices, alcohol management in beer and wine, and flavour extraction of tea and coffee are all carried out using the spinning cone column (SCC).

Often also referred to as a distillation or stripping column, the technology for the cone was originally conceived and developed by a scientific branch of the Australian Government known as CSIRO – the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

A company called Flavourtech bought and parented the technology from CSIRO and is reaping the benefits.

Spinning cone columns are made of stainless steel. Conical vanes are attached alternately to the wall of the column and to a central rotating shaft. The wine is poured in the top under vacuum and steam is pumped into the column from below. The vanes provide a large surface area over which volatile compounds can evaporate into the steam, and the rotation ensures a thin layer of the wine is constantly moved over the moving cone. Industrial columns are capable of processing 16 to 160 litres per minute.

To reduce alcohol by 1 or 2 per cent, wine is passed through the column once to distil out the most volatile aromas, which are then set aside while the wine goes through the column a second time at a higher temperature to extract some alcohol. The aroma compounds are then mixed back into the wine.

We've read that Penfolds saw the potential in SCC technology and invested in equipment about two years ago. The company has successfully produced and exported non-alcoholic chardonnay, riesling, gewurztraminer, semillon and sparkling to a number of countries.

Spinning cones and another technique, reverse osmosis, are banned in the European Union, although they can be used in wines imported into the EU.

Some of the information we quote here comes from Wikipedia, which states that in 2007 the Wine Standards Branch of Britain's Food Standards Agency banned the sale of a wine called Sovio. Made from Spanish grapes that normally produced wines with alcohol levels of 14 per cent, Sovio ran 40 to 50 per cent of the wine over spinning cones to reduce the alcohol content to just 8 per cent. This meant under EU law it couldn't be sold as wine because it was under 8.5 per cent. Above this threshold it would still be banned because of the EU's view on spinning cones.

The Doctors' Sauvignon Blanc 09 (9.5 per cent ABV)

Colour: So pale that it's almost clear

Aroma: Big and boisterous, with all the bells and whistles – a prickly mix of passionfruit, blackcurrant and some sweaty, capsicum and citrus notes.

Taste: A vibrant and punchy wine front of palate; there's some citrus zest and ripe fruitiness teamed up with crisp acids. This savvy is refreshing right through to the finish but the flavours do fall away rapidly. What we have here is a light, easy-drinking wine suited to lunches, picnics and other summertime pursuits.

Our thoughts: Alcohol is oily, sweet and warming, so some major components have been minimised in this wine. In what is a very personal opinion, we feel maximum enjoyment comes from not denying the wine its provenance – alcohol is a result of long, slow ripening; it is at the heart of the wine and gives it depth, intensity and balance. This said, in a society being forced into a semi-prohibitionist stance because of the acts of a few idiots, low-alcohol alternatives will be bound to find favour.

Price: $22; available in Marlborough by mail order or at the cellar door.

Cornerstone 2006 Released
Press Release

7th August 2009

Newton Forrest Estate Announces Long Awaited Launch
Newton Forrest Estate of Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay announces the long awaited launch of the Newton Forrest Cornerstone 2006 in New Zealand.
The wine which rated 'shoulder to shoulder' with Bordeaux first growths; Ch. Lafite, Ch. Mouton Rothschild, Ch Haut Brion will be commercially available in the New Zealand Market from the 24th August 2009 after much demand. The wine shot to global fame in February of this year in a double-blind tasting held at New Zealand House in London, England. The masterclass was attended by some of the wine worlds most distinguished critics including Jancis Robinson, Michael Schuster, Oz Clarke and Neal Martin. Participants tasted 12 carefully selected wines, 6 from Bordeaux and 6 from Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay and without obligation, were invited to submit their top 6 ranked wines in order of preference.

The Cornerstone 2006 a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Malbec finished impressively in the top 6 in the blind tasting just below the $1,950.00 priced bottle of 2005 Chateau Haut-Brion.

“I think the most amazing thing about the tasting is the fact the Cornerstone is a fraction of the price of the Bordeaux wines, yet stands up next to them in quality, with this and global enquiries we will see this wine disappear very quickly ” says Dr John Forrest, Winemaker and Business Partner.

Jancis Robinson Wine Writer mooted to the entire tasting panel the proposition that "the Gimblett Gravels wines tasted were the closest comparison to the Bordeaux wines of any wine region (in the world) today."

The acclaimed Cornerstone wine will be on show and available for tasting at ‘Hospitality NZ’ held at the ASB Show Ground in Auckland from 23rd to 25th August for the trade and public to sample and has a RRP of $60.

For further information please contact:
Dan Taylor
dan@forrest.co.nz or on 0064 3 5729084 | 0211493166
Distribution Information
NZ, North Island – Macvine International
Contact: 09 579 7451

NZ, South Island – Cellarworks
Contact: 021 283 0608

About Newton Forrest Estate
Newton Forrest Estate, established in 1988, reflects the Anzac spirit of Australian born and trained viticulturist Mr Bob Newton, and New Zealand winemaker Dr John Forrest of Forrest Wines. Cornerstone Vineyard is situated at the junction of Gimblett Road and State Highway 50, Hawkes Bay, and lies in the abandoned course of the Ngaruroro River. Within the riverbed’s stones and gravels the vine Struggle to survive and produce only a few bunches of deeply-coloured, intensely-flavoured ripe fruit with superb mouth-filling tannins.

The vineyard is part of the New Zealand Winegrowers Sustainable Vineyard system and in fact was one of the small number of vineyards involved in a three year trial to establish threshold levels for the program across New Zealand.

Forrest in 50 Greatest Pinot Noirs
We are proud to announce our Forrest 2007 Pinot Noir features in Decanter Magazines '50 Greatest Pinot Noirs from the New World' written by Matthew Jukes (Wine Writer)

John Forrest predicted that Vintage 2007 looked like it could be one of Marlborough's best vintages for Pinot Noir and he was not wrong!

A combination of below average cropping levels, a long slow ripening period and perfect vintage weather conditions gave rise to grapes with exceptional flavour intensity - Marlborough's trademark!

We are about to Launch our Brancott Valley Pinot Noir 2007 (rrp $40) a single vineyard wine under our Valleys Range. This wine has captured the best the land and vintage had to offer in what is already proven a great vintage for us here at Forrest. So be sure to look out for it.

Newton Forrest Cornerstone – A serious contender
The only major gap between a selection of Hawke's Bay red wines
and the best from Bordeaux these days would appear to be just the price..

Q: What do you do when a low-key tasting of your wines in Taupo confirms that your wine is up to scratch with the very best from Bordeaux from that celebrated region's very best vintage from the past decade?

A: Take the whole thing to London, invite some of the world's best palates and wine critics and do it all again, just to make sure.

Jancis Robinson, Michael Schuster and Neal Martin all have big reputations within the international wine community. This afternoon they hosted a tasting panel in London that included wine industry luminaries such as James Lawther, Oz Clarke and a number of other extremely influential writers and wine buyers.

The occasion was a double-blind master class tasting of six wines from the Bordeaux region in France alongside six wines from the Gimblett Gravels wine district in New Zealand's Hawke's Bay. Apart from the provenance of the wines, even the names of the wines were hidden from participants until the tasting was complete and the results collated.

Before the results were announced, Jancis summed up the sentiments that were strongly mirrored by the majority who had participated "..it wasn't evident as to which wine was (from) which (region)", words echoed by Michael Schuster's comments "…there was a lovely freshness in all the wines, and it was quite difficult to tell which was which".

With more than a dozen refined Bordeaux experts in the room, these statements are very encouraging for the winemakers from the fledgling Gimblett Gravels. As Rod Easthope, winemaker at Craggy Range, explains "In a tasting of this stature, it is always a primary reflex for palates of this skill and experience to attempt to identify the Bordeaux wines, and in this case there were certainly some surprises."

The panel collated its results (as shown below) for the 'top six' wines. The list includes two Gimblett Gravels wines.

Considering the quality and reputation of the French wines, this is an exceptional outcome, extremely encouraging for the Gimblett Gravels, where the vineyards were only seriously established at the beginning of the 1990's.

This result is very significant for New Zealand wines. The UK is the largest importer of Bordeaux wines in the world, and the complexity and depth of these wines make them the most popular category for the UK's consumers. Amongst the several high-level buyers present at the tasting, all expressed pleasant surprise at the afternoon's discovery.

One of the UK's largest Bordeaux Traders is Farr Vinters who were represented at the tasting by Stephen Browett who stated "I haven't tasted much NZ wine, the last time I did a proper tasting was more than five years ago and I found 70% to be (undesirably) herbaceous – today there were no herbaceous tones – this has completely eliminated my (previous) impression of NZ red wines." These sentiments were further supported by wine writer Oz Clarke who stated that he felt that the Gimblett Gravels wines had undergone 'dramatic' development in the past eight years.

Perhaps the most telling of the day's comments came from Jancis Robinson who mooted to the entire panel the proposition that "the (Gimblett Gravels) wines tasted were the closest comparison to the Bordeaux wines of any wine region (in the world) today.", a sentiment that received full support from the assembled panel.

There is now no doubt whatsoever that the Gimblett Gravels has helped create a 'tipping point' for the world's perception of New Zealand's Bordeaux-styled red wines.


The Results

1 - 2005 Chateau Lafite Rothschild from Pauillac, Bordeaux - RRP NZD $ 2,715.00 Vine age - 40 yrs
2 - 2005 Chateau Mouton Rothschild from Pauillac, Bordeaux RRP NZD - $1,880.00 Vine age - 48 yrs
3 - 2005 Chateau Angelus from St Emilion, Bordeaux - RRP NZD $821.00 Vine age - 30 yrs
4 - 2006 Sacred Hill – The Helmsman from Gimblett Gravels, Hawke's Bay - RRP NZD$50.00 Vine age - 7 yrs
5 - 2005 Chateau Haut-Brion from St Estephe, Bordeaux. RRP NZD $1,950.00 Vine age - 30 yrs
6 - 2006 Newton Forrest Cornerstone from Gimblett Gravels, Hawke's Bay - RRP NZD $42.00 - Vine age - 12 yrs


The Gimblett Gravels wine-growing district is home to around 30 vineyards, is just 800 hectares (less than 2000 acres) and stretches along New Zealand's state highway 50 south of the city of Hastings in the Hawke's Bay.

Once dismissed as useless land by sheep farmers, a small group of pioneering wine entrepreneurs recognised its potential in the 1980's.

In less than quarter of a century this tiny district has developed as a world-beater, renowned for its Bordeaux-style varietals such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, now rapidly pursued by the sky-rocketing popularity of its intense Syrah wines.

For further information & further comment from the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association contact:
Geoff Wilson, Executive Officer +64 (27) 405 2115 or via email at info@gimblettgravels.com


www.gimblettgravels.com