Mother block vineyards are just like what they sound – the first vines to be grown in a region that give rise to the rest of the same variety’s vines in that region. At Fairview, we are very fortunate and proud to have the original mother block of Viognier, planted in 1997 by Charles Back.

Charles desire to bring the aromatic white variety to the Cape stemmed from a visit to France’s Rhône region in 1989. During his trip, he tried Viognier for the first time, and explains how he was immediately struck by the unique nature of the wine, with its intriguing balance of fragrance, deep fruit and austere structure.

“I knew at once that the terroir of the Cape would be well-suited to Viognier, and as we tasted the wines I was thinking about the soils and sites that I was fortunate enough to have found come across over the years,” shares Charles.

When he returned to South Africa, Charles carefully started the process of sourcing the vines to bring to South Africa – a lengthy, complicated and often laborious process. It’s not easy bringing a foreign vine to local soils! But being determined, by the early 1990’s, Fairview was harvesting fruit from our Viognier vineyards.

Today, our trellised Viognier vines grow on the slopes of Paarl Mountain, on decomposed granite soils. Despite the beating summer sun, the resilient grape results in full, ripe and healthy grapes, and after maturation in bottle, shows its well-loved subtle perfumed fruit and great mouthfeel with every vintage.

In 2017, we celebrated 10 years of bottling this varietal. Our Fairview winemakers enjoy sculpting this variety into various styles, including as a single variety (try our Fairview Viognier), as well as being the frontrunner in our unique Brut MCC, and a leading component of our celebrated Nurok white blend. It’s even featured in our Goats Do Roam White Blend and Goat Roti!

Viognier is very flexible, working in a wide variety of seafood, roasted or grilled chicken, pork, spicy flavors and Asian cuisine. A Malay curry with delicate spice and dried fruits is particularly delicious when paired with Viognier. This Mother’s Day, our recommendation is to grab yourself a bottle (or two) of our very own mother block wine, Fairview Viognier, and celebrate!

The post Our Mother Block | Viognier appeared first on Fairview.

As you should already know by now, Fairview and our winemakers, under the careful guidance of Charles Back, love to break with tradition. In fact, we’re all about doing things differently. This really came to the fore with our Fairview Brut Méthode Cap Classique (MCC), a re-imagined take on the classic bubbly. Traditionally, Champagne (in France) and MCC (in South Africa), is made using the grape varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. For our version, one of our talented winemakers Stephanie Wiid decided to break with tradition, and use a celebration of Mediterranean varieties – Viognier, Grenache Noir and Grenache Blanc – for her bubbly. Given Charles’s reputation as one of the SA wine industry mavericks, perhaps it’s not that surprising that he insisted on the first Fairview MCC rather being Rhône-like in its varietal mix.

For our pen-ultimate Goatshed Dinner for 2018, we will be sharing the delights of our Fairview Brut MCC and pairing it with Old World style food – meaning food from regions like France. Our chefs and winemakers thought it would be an interesting comparison to take our New World bubbly and pair it with Old World traditional fare. The combination will no doubt be delightful! Coming up on Friday 7th September 2018, come enjoy a warm environment, hearty food and a pop, clink, fizz with your friends!

In case you haven’t heard, this year, we’ve decided to introduce a strong relationship between the food and wine pairings, by complementing the Goatshed dinners to our most food-focused wine range, titled the Regional Revival Range.

The Regional Revival Range consists of the following 6 wines:
1. Fairview Homtini
2. Fairview Nurok
3. Fairview Drie Papen Fontein
4. Fairview Caldera
5. Fairview Brut MCC
6. Fairview Extrano

Here is a breakdown of the menu you can expect to enjoy on the evening:

Amuse Bouche
Blinis with smoked salmon & fish roe

First starter
Paprika chicken schnitzel with stuffed cabbage

Second starter
Mushroom and barley soup

Main course
Roast beef, potato dauphinois, roasted vegetables and rosemary jus
Goulash hot pot

Dessert
Apple pie, vanilla ice cream and custard

***

R325 per person
Wine Pairings included

Click below to purchase your tickets.

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After re-imagining our annual Goatshed Dinners, the Regional Revival Range Chef’s Journey will most definitely be our flagship event of the season! Coming up on the 27th July 2018, the Regional Revival Range showcase will be a culmination of our chef’s finest culinary talent and our winemakers crafted bottlings. The goal is to deliver a true farm-to-fork philosophy, offering a real taste of our homegrown produce and beautifully paired wines.

In case you’ve missed it, the Regional Revival Range consists of the following 6 wines:
1. Fairview Brut MCC
2. Fairview Drie Papen Fontein
3. Fairview Nurok
4. Fairview Homtini
5. Fairview Extrano
6. Fairview Caldera

This food-friendly showcase of unusual styles and cultivars gives our talented winemakers an exciting avenue to challenge traditional viticulture and winemaking and produce regionally-inspired, blended wines with a Cape twist. At Fairview, there is a tale to share behind everything, none more so than our wine. Our Regional Revival Range brings storytelling to the fore, blending together adventurous grape varieties with cutting-edge winemaking. Inspired by wines of the Old World, the range takes these traditional regional styles and brings them alive to local palates by integrating an unexpected Cape twist. Rising in popularity since its inception, our Regional Revival Range is beloved for each bottle’s characteristic label design and food pairing compatibility.

Here is a breakdown of the menu you can expect to enjoy on the evening:

Bread
Bread & condiments

Full circle Pork
Pâté en Croûte

Beef
Shoulder ragout & Tortellini

Lamb
Lamb neck cottage pie, lamb jus and parsnips

Dairy
Yoghurt Panna Cotta

Cheese selection

***

R375 per person
Wine Pairings included

Click below to purchase your tickets.

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