Short definition
A wine where ripe fruit flavors dominate over earthy, herbal, or oaky characteristics.
When someone says "fruit-forward," they mean the wine leads with ripe berry, citrus, or stone fruit flavors rather than earth, leather, or spice. New World wines from California, Australia, and Chile tend to be fruit-forward. It is a style, not a quality judgment — a fruit-forward Zinfandel is not better or worse than an earthy Burgundy.