KEY POINTS:
Inner stillness is an admirable trait in human beings. All great sports captains have it. It's about strength drawn from solid foundations, self-assurance and truthfulness. The results it achieves are spectacular solid-spectacular rather than flash-spectacular.
It is equally compelling in wine. It is the result of a great site delivering great fruit that has been allowed to be itself. Its latest manifestation for me was in a wine I tasted last week; the 2005 John Forrest Collection Gimblett Gravels Syrah.
Marlborough stalwart John Forrest unleashed the first tranche of his upper-tier John Forrest Collection this time last year. Together they formed an impressive line-up, mostly single-vineyard wines drawn from sites all around the country. Priced at $50 a bottle, they were also unabashedly aimed at an elite niche.
Most of the country's mainstream grape varieties were represented, although there was no varietal sauvignon blanc. That may surprise some, especially considering Forrest is a Marlborough man, but it's simply a reflection of his honesty and sauvignons limitations.
Forrest pulled a surprise lever with the wine he enigmatically calls The White, a blend of seven white varieties. Over the past year it apparently became something of a cult wine in Peter Gordon's London restaurants. I enjoyed it and admired the chutzpah behind its creation, but also found it indecisive.
The latest edition, the 2006 The White, is a step up. The palate is quite viscous in texture, helped by a larger chenin blanc component. There is also an attractive mellow bluntness in the mouth. I describe it as new-world aromatics and an old-world palate. And it showed itself to be remarkably versatile as a food accompaniment.
The Wairau Valley 2004 Chardonnay and the 2006 Riesling are other Collection standouts. Through the palate, the chardonnay is bright, spare and elegant, and leaves you with something wild and unusual. The riesling has an attractive, supple texture and I'd like to taste it in another year.
And then there was the syrah, which delivered a captains knock.
Recommended
2005 John Forrest Collection Gimblett Gravels Syrah
Not a rough edge anywhere; vivid, deep, calming and fresh, with dark plum and white pepper notes to the fore. Lingers on the palate, like a man who can't stop telling you something. Yet another fantastic example of how good Hawkes Bay syrah can be. Available in fine wine stores for $70.
