<p><a href="/wine/search?submitted=Y&search_by=exact&text_search_flag=winery&winery=Ken+Forrester"><b>Ken Forrester</b></a>
is known for several things: bow ties, Chenin Blanc and a youthful passion for
living hedonistically. Forrester, 55, is as affable as they come, and nothing
gets his hearty laugh going going like a good bottle of wine, a good cigar and
a few good jokes. The former restaurateur still has his hospitality skills from
his early days, but he has added winemaking to his repertoire. His tireless
work in the U.S. has been responsible for him building a 54,000-case
operation, of which half goes to the U.S. market. And he seems to relish being one
of the flag bearers for his country's still-developing wine industry. For more on Forrester, reference <a href="/blogs/show/id/14752">my March 2007 blog</a>.
</p>
<p>Forrester,
who handles most of the winemaking now at his namesake winery has been joined
by viticulturist Peter Rossouw since the 2008 vintage. Forrester's vineyards
have been farmed organically since 2002, a year that turned wet and cost him
half his crop due to downy mildew.</p>
<p>"But I'd
spent four years converting to organics and, besides, why wouldn't you want to
be organic?" he asked. "It's the healthier, more sensible way to do things. So no, a little
rainy vintage wasn't going to change my mind."</p>
<p>The home
estate, located on the border of Stellenbosch and Somerset West, totals 123 acres, with 72 acres under vine. Forrester and Rossouw also have an
additional 74 acres of vines under long-term contract, controlling the
viticulture, while buying in a little bit of fruit to finish off the
production. Everything is done by hand in the vineyards.</p>
<p>"Pruning,
tipping, weeding. <i>Everything</i>," emphasized Forrester. "We do it by hand to
create jobs. Organics also means growing the community organically. We have a
responsibility to do that."</p>
<p>Though the
home estate is just 3 miles from the coast, the flat vineyard of weathered
sandstone over gravel and clay is a sunny but lightly breezy spot. The old-vine
Chenin Blanc on the property, planted in 1970, is what drew Forrester in when
he bought it in 1993.</p>
<p>"Everyone
said rip out the Chenin and plant Pinotage and Chardonnay. Since everyone told
me to rip it out, I figured I had to keep it," he said, with his wide, engaging
grin.</p>
<p>Over time
he's learned to manage the site for what Forrester calls "cool sunshine," to
produce richly styled wines that still maintain freshness. The vineyard rows
run north-south so they get both morning and afternoon sun. Therefore there is
no aggressive leaf pulling here as I saw at the much windier and cooler
vineyards of <a href="/blogs/show/id/47934">de Morgenzon</a> earlier in my trip. Forrester needs to shade his fruit
a bit for protection. Some of the bush vines have since been retrained onto a
trellis, while others have been left as is.</p>
<p>
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