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Old Dec 26, 2011, 12:59 am
  #1  
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Forrest Estate dessert wine

Does anyone know what the Forrest Estate dessert wine is that NZ are serving at the moment?

I went through a fair bit of it on the way down to Auckland, and I'm trying to find a few bottles before I head back up to Europe in a couple of days. I should have written down exactly what it was, but I guess I'm just not that smart. From memory, the onboard wine guide called it a "2009 Noble Riesling", but the Forrest website doesn't list a 2009 Noble. It has a "2005 Noble Rielsing", or a "2009 Botrytised Riesling". I also found a "2009 Field of Stones Noble Riesling" at one outlet (which is made by Forrest) but again, I'm not sure that's the one.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help.
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Old Dec 26, 2011, 1:02 am
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The Botrytised Riesling is the same thing. Botrytis is also known as "Noble Rot", hence, Noble Riesling. BTW, I agree with you; it is very nice.
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Old Dec 26, 2011, 3:32 am
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Originally Posted by *A Flyer
The Botrytised Riesling is the same thing. Botrytis is also known as "Noble Rot", hence, Noble Riesling. BTW, I agree with you; it is very nice.
Beware that Forrest does in fact have two distinct (but similar) dessert wines - one is the late harvest riesling, and one is the botrytised. They're both good, but the botrytised is better (and more expensive) and it's the one that AirNZ has.

However, I'm not sure what vintage AirNZ is currently serving. If I remember, I'll ask on my AKL-SFO flight in a couple of weeks time. Any excuse to drink some more of that nectar!
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Old Dec 26, 2011, 3:50 am
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Originally Posted by mad_atta
Beware that Forrest does in fact have two distinct (but similar) dessert wines - one is the late harvest riesling, and one is the botrytised. They're both good, but the botrytised is better (and more expensive) and it's the one that AirNZ has.

However, I'm not sure what vintage AirNZ is currently serving. If I remember, I'll ask on my AKL-SFO flight in a couple of weeks time. Any excuse to drink some more of that nectar!
A fair point but the Late Harvest wouldn't be marketed as a "Noble" Riesling would it? To my mind, that would be false advertising as they are two entirely different products.
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Old Dec 26, 2011, 4:28 pm
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Originally Posted by mad_atta
However, I'm not sure what vintage AirNZ is currently serving. If I remember, I'll ask on my AKL-SFO flight in a couple of weeks time. Any excuse to drink some more of that nectar!
My memory is slightly hazy (heh), but on SFO-AKL on the 21st I'm pretty sure it was the 2009 Botrytised. Definitely botrytised anyway, I do recall that bit because the passenger across the aisle wanted to know what it meant.
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Old Dec 26, 2011, 6:40 pm
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Had some on NZ8 last night and was very impressed.
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Old Dec 28, 2011, 1:11 am
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Originally Posted by *A Flyer
The Botrytised Riesling is the same thing. Botrytis is also known as "Noble Rot", hence, Noble Riesling. BTW, I agree with you; it is very nice.
Thanks all. Actually rang Forrest yesterday to confirm, and they said it is the 2009 Botrytised Riesling that NZ are serving. Despite the interchangeability of the terms, I still find it odd that Air NZ refer to it as a Noble Riesling when:

1 - There's NO use or mention of the "Noble" term on the bottle
2 - Forrest sell a couple of other wines specifically labelled as "Noble Riesling"

Anyway, with a bit of effort I managed to track down a couple of bottles in Auckland today (thanks to the wonderful people at Fine Wine Delivery) and they're safely packed for the trip home. Here's hoping they're serving on NZ2 tonight.
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Old Dec 29, 2011, 12:02 am
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Originally Posted by *A Flyer
A fair point but the Late Harvest wouldn't be marketed as a "Noble" Riesling would it? To my mind, that would be false advertising as they are two entirely different products.
Correct - and no, Forrest wouldn't refer to the late harvest as noble. I mentioned it just because people often lump dessert wines together and/or assume that each producer would only make one style of dessert wine, so could get caught out.
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Old Dec 29, 2011, 3:16 pm
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Do they serve this dessert wine on short haul business (eg to RAR / NAN)?
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Old Dec 30, 2011, 1:01 am
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Originally Posted by rownada
Do they serve this dessert wine on short haul business (eg to RAR / NAN)?
I've seen it on Tasman services, so would assume so?

Incidentally, in the current NZ wine guide (Aug 2011 to Jan 2012) it states the Forrest dessert wine (one of four) is the 2009 Noble Riesling, with wine label image to match. In comparison, the previous guide (Feb-Jul 2011) had the Forrest 2009 Botrytised Riesling and an label image of the stated wine. The interesting thing is I can't find any mention of the Noble Riesling on Forrest's website.

Can vouch for the Forrest dessert wines.
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Old Dec 30, 2011, 4:17 am
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Originally Posted by Aerosett
Incidentally, in the current NZ wine guide (Aug 2011 to Jan 2012) it states the Forrest dessert wine (one of four) is the 2009 Noble Riesling, with wine label image to match. In comparison, the previous guide (Feb-Jul 2011) had the Forrest 2009 Botrytised Riesling and an label image of the stated wine. The interesting thing is I can't find any mention of the Noble Riesling on Forrest's website.
That's exactly the issue I had. I followed the Wine Guide when trying to source the same bottle in NZ, but Forrest do not use the "Noble Riesling" name on the bottle. The picture in the current wine guide does show the "Botrytised Riesling" label design, but just too small to read the words.

Made sure I actually saw the bottle onboard NZ2 yesterday, and it most certainly is the 2009 Botrytised that is being served (and it was fantastic! Thanks Hakan for the overly generous pour).
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Old Dec 30, 2011, 4:48 am
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Originally Posted by rownada
Do they serve this dessert wine on short haul business (eg to RAR / NAN)?
Yes, the same wines as trans-Tasman.
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Old Dec 30, 2011, 3:55 pm
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Saw the 2009 available at Forrest for $40 NZD when I passed through on Thursday.

There happened to be some Americans there who said they were there specifically to buy it after having enjoyed it on their flight the day before.

Some bottles were also available at the little "airshop" at the Woodbourne (aka Blenheim/Marlborough) airport.

It's also available for order online (within NZ) at $35 per bottle. It happens to be the very first item listed on their order form.

Forrest retailers within NZ, who might have stock (or not):

http://www.forrest.co.nz/retailers.asp
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Old Dec 30, 2011, 6:58 pm
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Originally Posted by kiwi_norway
That's exactly the issue I had. I followed the Wine Guide when trying to source the same bottle in NZ, but Forrest do not use the "Noble Riesling" name on the bottle. The picture in the current wine guide does show the "Botrytised Riesling" label design, but just too small to read the words.
Interesting, in the Aug-11 to Jan-12 wine guide I have, the wine label image I have clearly says Noble Riesling:

FORREST

NOBLE
RIESLING
2009 Marlborough

New Zealand Wine
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Old Dec 30, 2011, 7:42 pm
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Originally Posted by rownada
Do they serve this dessert wine on short haul business (eg to RAR / NAN)?
Yesterday in J on NZ119 AKL-SYD they were serving Alan Scott late harvest riesling.
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