24 Aug National Shiraz Day: Celebrating South Africa’s Shiraz at Fairview
National Shiraz Day: Celebrating South Africa’s Shiraz at Fairview
Happy National Shiraz Day! There are grape varieties you make wine with. And then there are the ones that become part of your story.
At Fairview, Shiraz has always been one of the latter. It was one of the first four varieties bottled under the Fairview label back in 1974, and it remains one of the most important grapes in our cellar today.
From the warm, granite-rich vineyards of Paarl to the dryland vineyards of the Swartland and the cooler sites closer to the Atlantic, Shiraz has a remarkable ability to express where it comes from. That diversity is exactly what makes National Shiraz Day worth celebrating.
This year, we’re making a proper week of it with four very different bottles of Shiraz. Different vineyards. Different winemaking approaches. Different expressions of the same extraordinary grape.
Why We Celebrate National Shiraz Day
National Shiraz Day is a chance to celebrate one of the world’s great red wine varieties and explore just how differently it can express itself from one vineyard to another.
At Fairview, our relationship with Shiraz goes back decades. It was among the first varieties bottled under the Fairview label in 1974, establishing a relationship with the grape that has continued through generations.
Charles Back has championed Shiraz throughout his career, while our winemaker Anthony de Jager will happily tell you that it remains his favourite variety.
For us, Shiraz isn’t simply another grape in the cellar. It is part of the fabric of Fairview.
And perhaps the most exciting thing about South African Shiraz is that there is no single definition of what it should taste like.
What Makes South African Shiraz So Interesting?
South Africa’s diverse wine-growing regions give Shiraz plenty of room to show its personality.
In warmer inland areas, Shiraz can develop generous dark fruit, spice, structure and concentration. In cooler or higher-altitude vineyards, the same variety can take on more savoury, peppery and elegant characteristics.
The Swartland has become particularly renowned for its dryland vineyards and distinctive Rhône varieties, while Paarl offers its own combination of warm days, cool nights and ancient soils.
This is where South African red wine becomes particularly interesting. Rather than trying to make every Shiraz taste the same, winemakers can use different sites, farming techniques and winemaking approaches to reveal different sides of the variety.
And that is exactly what we love about Shiraz at Fairview.
Four Shiraz Wines, Four Very Different Stories for National Shiraz Day
To celebrate National Shiraz Day, we’ve selected four bottles that demonstrate just how much personality this grape can have.
Fairview Eenzaamheid Shiraz 2022
From the historic Eenzaamheid farm in Paarl, this Shiraz comes from unirrigated vines growing in gravelly, decomposed shale soils.
The result is a serious, structured red wine with dark fruit, red plum, wild berries and fynbos notes. Spicy and savoury, with grippy tannins, it’s a wine with the structure to develop beautifully over the next five to eight years.
Bloemcool Drip Wyn 2023
This is Shiraz with a rather extraordinary story.
Made in the Swartland, only a tiny fraction of the wine is collected by gravity as it slowly drips from the skins overnight. Just one 500-litre barrel was produced.
The result is dense, concentrated and packed with dark fruit, spice and dryland structure.
It’s a fascinating example of how a different winemaking approach can completely change the expression of Shiraz wine.
Klein Amoskuil Die Nagmuis 2023
A little more untamed and unmistakably Swartland.
Die Nagmuis is a semi-carbonic, organic bush-vine Syrah from Klein Amoskuil. Deep purple in colour, it brings together plum, blackcurrant, herbs and subtle oak with a savoury, wild character.
It shows another side of South African Shiraz: energetic, earthy and driven by the character of dry-farmed bush vines.
Fairview Shiraz 2023
Then there’s the everyday expression of a variety we take very seriously.
Fairview Shiraz brings together fruit from different coastal regions to create a generous, approachable red wine. Expect dark berries, plum and warm spice, with the balance and drinkability that make it an easy bottle to return to.
It’s a reminder that great red wine doesn’t always need to be complicated.
Sometimes, you simply want another glass.
One Grape. Many Expressions.
Four wines. Different sites. Different winemaking. Different price points.
Same grape.
That’s part of what makes Shiraz so intriguing.
From Paarl’s structured, spice-driven expressions to the wild, dryland character of the Swartland, these wines demonstrate how strongly a grape can reflect its origins.
And our relationship with Shiraz continues to evolve.
Our Cyril Back Shiraz 2023 was recently named one of South Africa’s Top 12 Shiraz wines in the 2026 Shiraz SA Challenge, adding another chapter to a story that began more than 50 years ago.
For us, that is what National Shiraz Day is really about: celebrating the grape, the vineyards, the people behind the wines and the different places that give each bottle its personality.
Shiraz, Wine and the Cape Winelands
If you’re exploring wine tasting near Cape Town, Shiraz is a particularly rewarding place to start.
At Fairview in Paarl, wine tasting is about more than simply comparing bottles. Our wines draw from a collection of sites across the Cape, allowing visitors to experience the diversity of the region through the glass.
Pair your tasting with our handmade cheeses, explore the farm and meet the goats that have become such an important part of the Fairview story. Or settle in at the Goatshed for a meal and discover how naturally Shiraz works alongside food.
It’s one of the things we love most about wine: a bottle can take you somewhere.
A Shiraz from Paarl can tell a very different story from one grown in the Swartland. Yet both can sit comfortably alongside the same table, the same meal and the same conversation.
Seven Days of Celebrating Shiraz
To mark National Shiraz Day, we’re celebrating for seven days with these four very different bottles.
Whether you’re looking for a serious Paarl Shiraz to put away for a few years, a rare Swartland expression, an organic bush-vine Syrah or an approachable bottle for the dinner table, there’s something here to explore.
Online Exclusive | Seven Days Only
Delivery is free on orders of R550 or more anywhere in South Africa.
A Celebration of a Grape That Became Part of Our Story
At Fairview, Shiraz has been part of our story since the very beginning of the Fairview label.
More than five decades later, we’re still discovering what this grape can do.
From old vines and dryland vineyards to innovative winemaking and classic Paarl expressions, Shiraz continues to challenge, surprise and reward us.
So this National Shiraz Day, raise a glass to South Africa, to the Cape’s remarkable vineyards and to a grape that has earned its place in our cellar.
We are Shiraz people.
Seven days of celebrating Shiraz. Four very different bottles to drink your way through it.
To Shiraz. To South Africa. To Life.