New Zealand's first blended white

2006 The White, The John Forrest Collection, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (£16.99, Adnams, 01502-727222, www.adnams.co.uk).

Many moons ago I had dinner with a few high-level wine wizards in London Jeff Grosset (Clare Valley riesling fame), John Forrest (read on), Tyson Stelzer (who later became my co-author in Australia) and others. We debated long and hard over many delightful glasses of wine. I challenged John, "Why are there no truly great New Zealand white wines, like those incredible blended whites from Northern Italy?"

We scratched our heads everything NZ made was single variety and very few aged for more than 12 months.

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A year later John came over to London with loads of fresh made (un-bottled and un-blended) '05 vintage wines from every one of his white varieties (riesling, sauvignon, chardonnay, gewurz, chenin blanc, pinot gris) and he challenged me, "Blend the best white you can!"

A few hours later I had done just that. John returned home and put it together and we came up with the name 'The White'. The 2005 is still ageing gracefully and, even though I say it myself, it is one of the most alluring Kiwi whites I have ever tasted. I had no hand in this 2006, but it is incredible, and the 2007 which follows is perhaps the best ever.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year