A comprehensive assessment of its carbon footprint, by Promethium Carbons organisational carbon audit, revealed that the Fairview Cheesery had an annual footprint of 1,743t/CO2e, associated with the production of its cheese products. Armed with this knowledge Fairview embarked on an emissions reduction project to offset this organisational footprint, via emission avoidance and emission sequestration.

Under the guidance of Earth Patrol, SA Carbon Management consultancy, the Cheesery became involved in two primary carbon offsetting projects:

• 145 trees were planted on Fairview’s farm, at the Mbekweni and Mboniselo Primary Schools, Ihlumelo Intermediate School, Rusthof old age home and a public park in the Drakenstein municipality, to actively reduce the amount of Carbon Dioxide (and other harmful GHG’s) in the environment.
• A total of 7,812 modern, efficient Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL light bulbs) were installed free of charge, replacing older inefficient, Incandescent Lamps (ICL light bulbs) in the workers houses at the Fairview farm, as well as in various areas across KZN and Gauteng – including low income and subsidised housing areas, and special needs centres such as old age homes, orphanages and shelters. The lamp switch contributed to a 60% reduction in the electricity used for lighting across the buildings where the lamps were installed, and this will lead to a financial savings of over R2.6 million in the cost of electricity to these residents over the lifetime of the technology (5 years).

The Cheesery also erected solar panels which reduce the energy usage by a third, and an economiser was purchased to enable the Cheesery to use steam to heat the water in the boiler, reducing boiler fuel consumption by approximately 130lt per day.

Charles Back, owner of Fairview, says they will continue working towards becoming a greener, more environmentally aware business. “The company will strive towards innovation and education in the interest of protecting the environment for future generations.”

Save the Date:  10 March 

Ommiberg ‘Round the Rock’ 2012

We’ve got a couple of great events at Fairview and Spice Route for the Ommiberg ‘Round the Rock’ festival in March that should be tons of fun for everyone. We’ve got all the details laid out for you.

Check them out:

Contact Person: Tanja Schreuder

Tel: 021 863 2450

Email: tasting@fairview.co.za

We can accommodate twenty five (25) visitors at one time for the Vineyard mountain bike ride and the two Limited Release Selection tasting sessions.

Tasting of the young wines and the Standard tasting has unlimited availability. The Master tasting has limited availability. Bookings are essential.

TICKETS

Early bird tickets for adults are priced at R60 from www.computicket.com, or R70 on the day at each of the 12 participating estates, while accompanied children aged under 18 enter for free.

Contact Person: Marlies Naude

Tel: 021 863 5200

Email: tasting@spiceroute.co.za

For more information please contact DIANI SMIT on 021 863 2450 ]]> http://www.fairview.co.za/news/ommiberg-2012-celebrate-harvest-season-in-paarl-with-the-family-at-fairview-and-spice-route/feed/ 0 http://www.fairview.co.za/news/la-capra-goat-run-results/ http://www.fairview.co.za/news/la-capra-goat-run-results/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:16:16 +0000 admin http://www.fairview.co.za/?p=2552

Over the weekend, the second annual La Capra Goatrun was presented by Fairview.

This year the race organizers outdid themselves. There were 400 entrants in the race. Sadly 50 of those thought the weather looked a little ominous, and turned back. Either that, or their alarms couldn’t get them up for the VERY early morning start.

The farm was a buzz on Friday afternoon, with people coming to register and collect their goodie bags in order to make the early Saturday morning start times a little more manageable.

Saturday morning rolled in, and so did a few dark clouds. Luckily the heavens didn’t open up on the 500 strong competitors, spectators and visitors to the farm that morning.

The runners were set off – the 8km and the 15km runners started at 7:45, with the 5km walkers starting at 08:00.

The 5km runners were treated to a few La Capra watering holes on the way through the vineyards – which slowed a few people down – nothing like sipping a cold La Capra Sauvignon Blanc while standing in the middle of the vineyards enjoying the smells and sights the vines and panoramic view have to offer.

The 5km women’s race was won by none other than our very own Marlene van der Berg – perhaps the local knowledge of the route, or the sneaking training sessions she was doing during her lunch helped J. Well done Marlene.

Fairview is delighted to announce the recipients of Platter’s highest rating – five stars – for the 2012 edition due in November.

Wines are graded in Platter’s on a five star scale, from “Somewhat less than ordinary” to “Superlative. A South African classic”. The guide strives to taste, rate and describe as many as possible of the South African-made wines available locally and overseas during the currency of the particular edition.

A record 7,000 wines are featured in the new edition (400 more than last time), of which 139 bottlings were identified in the first round of tasting by individual members of Platter’s judging team as potentially worthy of five stars.

The candidate five star wines were then entered into a second round of evaluation, conducted “blind” (without sight of the label) across a variety of categories, including reds and whites, sparkling, dessert wines and port styles. Only bottled (i.e. market-ready) wines, available during the currency of the 2012 guide, were considered.

Of the 139 five star contenders, 45 got the nod from the assembled panel.

Our Beacon 2008 Shiraz received the 5 star accolade this year. Something our winemakers are very proud of.

Congrats Anthony de Jager and team – a truly great achievement, for a truly great wine.

Fairview Wines have received wonderful scores from the latest Robert Parker review.

Using a 50-100 point quality scale, which is said to give a better all round result than the usual 20 point scale, Neal Martin reviewed huge numbers of South African wines and Fairview fared extremely well.

According to The Wine Advocate website a score of 90 – 95 points indicates “An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.”

Fairview is thrilled to announce that the

• Fairview Caldera 2008;
• Fairview Eenzaamheid Shiraz 2009
• The Beacon Shiraz 2007 and
• Spice Route Chakalaka 2009 all received scores of more than 90 points!

In summation of his Wine Advocate report on the South African Wine Industry, Neal Martin said, “For the consumer, there is a gamut of rich pickings to be found. Just pour without prejudice.”

So choose one of Fairview’s outstanding wines, pour, drink and enjoy! (without prejudice)

At the luncheon to announce the winners, Bobby Malabie, Chief Executive of Absa Business Bank, said: “Absa is again honoured to be the main sponsor of the Absa Top 10 Pinotage competition, in partnership with the Pinotage Association, to promote uniquely South African wine made from Pinotage grapes.”

He said this was not only an occasion to celebrate the success of the 2011 winners, but also a 15 year milestone of this exciting competition and partnership. “Its highly respected reputation has encouraged winemakers every year to do their utmost to be one of the Top 10 winners.”

Fairview have consistently been in the Absa top 10 over the years. Our first award being that of the Spice Route 2003 in the 2004 competition.

More recently the Fairview Primo Pinotage 2007 was awarded the honours in the 2008 competition, Fairview Pinotage 2009 in the 2010 awards. And this year the Fairview Primo 2009 has captured the hearts (and taste buds) of the judges.

The Deep red colour with purple touches. Intense cherry and perfumed violet on the nose, with underlying notes of smoky oak and sweet spice. Ripe plum and spice on the palate with a firm structure worthy of time in the bottle. This wine will only get better with time.

A definite must for any cellar.

We are extremely proud of our Pinotages and rightfully so, as Charles has spent a large part of his life in pursuit of locations that express the uniqueness and show-stopping ability of this varietal. During his travels, he have found many beautiful and unusual vineyard settings. Primo Pinotage is our selection of the finest wine of the vintage, selected from sites that allow the varietal to find its true expression.

It was a great success and as such we have decided to bring the AMAZING fun to the people again.

This year the La Capra goat run, presented by Fairview, will take place on the the 12th November 2011 at the Fairview Wine Estate, Paarl.

Date: 12 November 2011

The highly acclaimed Paarl cheesery also produced eight second prize cheeses and six third places. The annual SA National Dairy Championships judge locally produced cheeses according to international standards, awarding prizes for outstanding production of quality dairy products.

A selection of Fairview goats’ milk and cows’ milk cheeses were entered into the competition this year. La Beryl, Blue Tower, Bleu en Blanc, Cambozola, Chevin with Black Pepper and Paprika and newcomer, Caraway Cheese all walked off with first places at the awards ceremony on the 27^th of April.

“A good all-round performance”, said Louis Lourens, Fairview cheese maker. “It was also encouraging to see our new innovative cheeses receiving mostly second prizes, and a first prize”. Fairview’s dedicated cheese team have been hard at work, developing new and inventive cheeses, some of which are currently on sale at the Fairview tasting room.

Previous winners at the SA National Dairy Championships include the Roydon Camembert and Blue Rock, to mention but a few.

All the cheeses are available at the Fairview farm shop as well as selected supermarkets countrywide.