Fairview wine and cheese in Paarl produces several tantalising Shiraz wines that feature in almost all of the estate’s ranges. These Shiraz wines have earned numerous accolades, confirming Fairview’s position as a Shiraz-producing jewel in the Cape Winelands.

The 2014 Beacon Shiraz is dark ruby red in colour, with aromas of ripe plum, violet and cinnamon on the nose. The Shiraz resembles a French Syrah from the Northern Rhône. The palate is rich and full-bodied with firm structure and complex flavours of fruit and spice. The wine has the potential to mature for 5 to 8 years.

“Shiraz has always been a flagship variety for our farm, carrying with it a special heritage and significance,” says winemaker Anthony de Jager.

 The SA Shiraz Wine Challenge 2017 announced their results recently, of which the Fairview Beacon Shiraz 2014 was honoured with a spot in the overall Top 12 Shiraz wines in South Africa.

Richly flavoured and ideally served at 15 °C – 18°C, Shiraz wines are perfect for the winter season. They pair particularly well with hot meat dishes, such as beef stew, roast lamb, venison, oxtail, and roast or braaied chicken.

If you’re not the biggest cook and looking for something more casual, invite friends over and serve up the 2014 Beacon Shiraz with the perfectly suited Fairview Blue Tower. A full fat blue veined Gorgonzola style cheese with a mild flavour and rich creamy texture. Blue Tower is made with more cream than our famous Blue Rock, resulting in a rich texture. It also has a slightly higher moisture content, making it a bit softer and more decadent.

The Beacon Shiraz 2014 retails for about R285 per bottle and is available nationwide at selected liquor outlets or via Fairview’s online shop.

The Roydon Camembert retails for about R69 per unit and is available nationwide at selected supermarkets or at the Fairview Shop & Deli.

To book a standard wine tasting or a Master Tasting at Fairview, visit www.fairview.co.za or call 021 863 2450.

Follow @fairviewwineandcheese on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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This year’s event will be in aid of The Athlone House of Strength, a shelter that assists abused women and children. Nik Rabinowitz, one of the country’s leading comedians, will be the MC for the evening.

Tickets include a hearty four-course meal prepared by the Goatshed’s much-loved chef, SJ Nel and newly appointed chef, Heila van Zyl, as well as beautifully paired Fairview wines to complement each dish. Fairview’s own farm fresh, free range meat and cheese will feature on the menu.

Don’t miss out on this very special event. Seating is limited, so book now and help make a difference in someone’s life.

Tickets cost R650 per person and can be purchased at www.fairview-events.co.za.

Should you wish to book overnight accommodation, Fairview recommends the following neighbouring farms:

Belair: www.belair.co.za/belairWP

Email: info@belair.co.za

Diamant Estate: www.diamantestate.com

Email: info@diamantestate.com

For more information on the Charity Dinner, please visit www.fairview-events.co.za. Should you have any enquiries, kindly send them to Goatshed@fairview.co.za or call 021 863 3609.

See our gallery from last year’s event for a taste of things to come:

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Charles also began the cheese making factory at Fairview, giving the cheesery the title of first goat’s milk cheesery in South Africa as well as the first carbon neutral factory in SA. “It was actually my father’s idea to get me involved in cheese making before doing the wine every day. My training was a French book, badly translated, on how to make goats cheese. I’ll never forget that there was a chapter on all that could go wrong and my cheeses ticked every box. They were appalling.” He persevered, even though the South African market initially expressed no interest in eating goats cheese, and he finally knew he’d hit on something when a group of visiting Frenchmen raved about his crottin. Since then, Fairview cheeses have grown from a single-room cottage industry to a market leader. It comes as no surprise that this is why the goat has been very prominent in our branding – it’s our mascot.

So much so that if you’ve ever come to our farm, there’s no way you could have missed the now famous Goat Tower, the home of two resident goats. While in Portugal on a family holiday, Back came across a goat tower and was so enamoured with it that he sketched it on the back of a serviette to take back home and build. “My father thought I was mad but at the time I was looking for something to tie our brand together, something iconic.” It’s a playful, whimsical touch, added by Charles 30 years ago. In December 2016, the Goat Tower expanded a little, with the addition of a Goat Paddock and Africa’s first goat skywalk, attracting thousands of visitors over the summer.

Another infamous ‘goat tale’ is that of our wine brand, Goats Do Roam. In 1999, owner Charles took inspiration from our goats to produce a new range of wines, called Goats Do Roam. The result was South Africa’s first so-called ‘critter label’, a separate company from Fairview. The pun on Côtes du Rhône caused such interest and controversy, that the brand became a huge success on export markets, becoming one of the highest selling South African brands worldwide. The controversy came from the force of the protectionist French Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée when they moved to prohibit the registration of the Goats Do Roam wine label. The French attempted to block the registration of the Goats Do Roam label but Back only responded with more humour, organising a ‘protest march’ with his workers to the French Consulate in Cape Town to deliver a magnum of Goats Do Roam. Everyone walked away smiling.

Today, Charles continue to busy himself with his team, focusing on offsetting and reducing the farm’s footprint by adopting a farm to fork philosophy. “We might be a big wine company but we’re still very much a family business with family values,” he concludes.

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