The invitation was enticing: join Chenin Blanc king Ken Forrester at The Westin on the 19th floor, to hear about his Dirty Little Secret, and it is no wonder that they had a full house, with trade representatives as well as writers attending!

We were welcomed with the Ken Forrester Sparklehorse MCC, and admired the spectacular view from the hotel’s 19th floor, facing the Cape Town Stadium and Robben Island. The dress code for the function was requested as smart black with a touch of yellow, and it was impressive that so many of the guests wore yellow shoes, shirts, a hat, button hole flower, and jewelry. We were served two canapes, a salmon chicharron with white gazpacho and oscetra; as well as a chicken and edamame bean sui mai, served with a crisp salad, and sweet soy.

When we sat down, Ken Forrester traced the history of his wine business to 23 years ago, when he bought a farm between Stellenbosch and Somerset West, on which he found Chenin Blanc, having the ideal location on the farm, enjoying ‘cool sunshine‘, and its elevated positioning was good for the variety. They produced their first Chenin Blanc Old Vine Reserve 22 years ago, and Allan Mullins of Woolworths was the supporter of his Chenin Blanc from day one. In the UK Oddbins was a strong international supporter, ordering one-quarter of the production in their first year. They requested of Ken an affordable, bright, and crisp Chenin Blanc, reflecting sunshine in the taste, which led to the birth of their Petit Chenin Blanc.  In 2000 he launched FMC, which they sold at R160 per bottle at the time, a high price for a white wine Ken was told. It was a great success, and now sells for R400. Ken then decided to make a Chenin Blanc MCC. Walking past a carousel in London, he decided to name this ‘workhorse‘ Chenin Blanc MCC Sparklehorse.

More recently they had access to a block of 1965 Chenin Blanc bush vines in the Piekenierskloof, 850 m above sea level, and 20 km from the coast. Temperature differences between day and night of 25°C or more are ideal for the Chenin Blanc bush vines. They made the new wine naturally, not adding any settling agents, nor any wild yeasts, left it unfiltered, allowing the barrel to be the ‘finishing school of the wine‘, in clarifying the wine, giving it a ‘shine‘ and a ‘lustre‘.  Eight barrels (3000 bottles) were produced of the 2015 vintage. The interesting brand name was bestowed upon the brand due to its completely natural way of making the wine, not interfering with it at all, Ken explained.  Ken said about his new ‘secret’ wine: ‘We decided to make this Chenin completely natural. All wild yeasts, spontaneous fermentation, no sulphur until after malolactic fermentation with 14 days of skin and stalk contact pre-fermentation. It then went into beautiful old, neutral 400 litre French barrels for five months after which it was bottled unfiltered and unfined to comply with all the natural rules and laws’.

Ken added: ‘I knew making this wine was going to be an extreme challenge, because somehow I had to make a wine that could show the age, experience of the vines and showcase the terroir. I wanted to present it as a unique one off, not just an extension off what I already do, but a single vintage by vintage challenge to show the year and the place in the most natural winemaking way possible and a wine that will hopefully lift the price ceiling for whites with its solid volume of production.  We took a trip backwards in time to make a thoroughly modern wine. A wine that will age beautifully for at least the next ten years, a tribute hopefully to the age and concentration of the vine, as well as to low, very low interruptive winemaking, a natural wine in every sense and finally bottled totally naturally with no cold stabilization or fining, and it is crystal clear, slightly golden in a good way…‘

Brand Tree with ‘master of marketing’ Bernard Immelman (our first food PR client when we ran our PR consultancy) and Creative Director Monty Filter had created the brand image for the new Chenin Blanc, a name and label design which will get the tongues wagging, especially at its R950 price tag! Interesting was the yellow wax closure at the neck of the bottle, to reinforce the sunshine character of the new wine, something I have not seen before. Monty sent me the following creative rationale: ‘The overall design was conceptualized as a handcrafted piece of art. The design needed to communicate the dedication to detail and unique artisan approach to achieving the bespoke product of natural unfined, unfiltered wine. In essence the design is at its core crafted and hand drawn typography and texture, echoing the handcrafted dedication to this unique wine. The yellow accent colour relates to the cool sunshine required to get this unique bush vine to deliver this unique product. Over all the image promotes a twist in a conventional approach and the confidence to do so’.

Ken introduced The Westin Executive Chef Grant Cullingworth, and he was applauded for his unique and clever pairings with the new wine.  He told us that the deep and complex flavour of the new wine was a challenge to pair with foods. The unanimous highlight at our table was the savoury nougat, almond aerated sponge, and foie gras, a perfect pairing with the new Dirty Little Secret, and described as a ‘match made in heaven’. On the same plate was a maple waffle, pressed caviar, and white chocolate labneh. We were also served caramelised aubergine with a chickpea salad and miso glaze; smoked salmon Maki with a poached quail egg on top of it, as well as tempura prawn and Sriracha Romesco sauce; as well as crayfish taco, guacamole, and pico de gallo, as well as Harissa lamb doughnut with dukka spice, all paired with the new Dirty Little Secret!

Disclosure:  We received a bottle of Ken Forrester Dirty Little Secret 2015 with our media pack.

Ken Forester Wines, Winery Road, Stellenbosch. Tel (021)  855-2374 www.kenforresterwines.com  Twitter: @KFWines

Brand Tree, Stellenbosch. Tel (021) 880-1334. www.brandtree.co.za

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog  Tel 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@WhaleCottage  Facebook:  click here Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein