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!

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Hi. I am Lyn, one of the longest ‘surviving’ staff members at Fairview. While attending Charles Back’s mother’s funeral in May 1998, I met Fairview’s then Marketing Manager, Jeremy Borg. He asked if I was still convening concerts at the Grande Roche in aid of Drakenstein Hospice. I replied in the affirmative but that I needed to start earning some pocket money to aid my volunteering efforts. He then mentioned Fairview was hiring. I applied and 2 weeks later was happily employed.

Tasting Room | Then

Tasting Room Team | Now

A month later, I mentioned to Jeremy that I felt guilty getting my job at a funeral! He brushed it aside saying, “Oh no Lyn, don’t be – the mafia do it all the time!”. Fast forward 19 years and I am still here and seem to be maturing like a good bottle of red – not yet having reached my expiry date.

Radical changes have occurred here at Fairview over the last 2 decades. When Charles lost his father in 1996, Fairview was the only farm that he owned. We now have several farms in all the major viticultural destinations and specific vines are planted in the terroir that serve them best. For example, our Sauvignon Blanc enjoys the cool breeze blowing off the Atlantic Ocean near Darling on the West Coast. Meanwhile, the Bordeaux classics like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are grown on Houmoed farm in the Firgrove area nearer False Bay and are therefore cooler than Paarl.

Changes in the Tasting Room have also been remarkable. The biggest change to my mind, excluding structural changes in the Tasting Room, have been the new varietals I can offer our guests. In 1998, I poured “the usual suspects” Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Pinotage, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Weiser Riesling (now called Riesling) and the then new kid on the block, Viognier.

Wine Tasting | Then

Wine Tasting | NOW

Charles has since uprooted many vines and planted more Mediterranean grapes that can withstand the heat and dry conditions in Paarl and Malmesbury. We now pour Spanish wines such as Carignan, Grenache Noir and Tempranillo, as well as Portuguese varieties such as Souzão and Verdelho. We’ve also updated a lot of our label design, with exciting blends such as Broken Barrel and Extraño.

From a small wine counter in a tiny room serving about 8 people at a time, we now have 5 dedicated serving pods which can accommodate 150 people. Where we were once a staff of 6, we are now a bustling team of 35 members handling over 1000 people a day in season. Our cheese tasting counter once held mounds of cheese samples that guests helped themselves to while ignoring Charles’s sign which read: “Bear in mind this is a cheese tasting, not brunch”. We have now updated our offering to include a curated cheese and wine pairing with 6 cheeses to match 6 wines, providing a more integrated and interactive experience.

Cheese Tasting | Then

Cheese Tasting | Now

At the entrance to the Tasting Room, a traditional garden has been built in memory of Beryl and Cyril Back. Trimmed hedges, a profusion of clivias, white roses and a pond full of Koi fish delight the eye. The trees are 20 years old now and provide shade and homes for many garden birds including the pin-tailed whydah, Cape sparrow, house sparrow, olive thrush and common fiscal to name a few. I watch the arrivals and departures of our migrating sparrows and swifts who leave for warmer climates in autumn and I marvel when they return back to their old nests in summer!

We forget to observe. We are often too busy on our mobiles taking group photos and selfies to see nature play out her amazing adventure. The drama continues high in the sky above Fairview where magnificent harrier-hawks, kites, goshawks, fish eagles and black eagles use thermals to elevate themselves while Lyn muddles along below. Here’s to looking up!

Tasting Room | Then

Tasting Room | Now

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The story of Fairview cheeses starts three decades ago, when Cyril Back purchased his first Saanen dairy goats, setting Fairview on the path to becoming one of South Africa’s leading artisanal cheese producers.

Cyril Back proudly holding some of the first Fairview goats

Cyril and his wife Beryl had been on a trip to France and fell in love with the richly flavoured goats’ milk cheeses produced on a number of the wine farms that they visited. Upon returning to Paarl, they began investigating the possibility of starting South Africa’s first goats’ milk cheesery. After much investigation and a few fortunate coincidences, the first Saanen goats arrived at the farm in 1980. Cyril was farming with pigs at the time, and his understanding of livestock was not in question. However the skill of producing delicious goats cheese was not one that was easily learned, as his son Charles recounts:

“My father and I had an excellent book on cheese production, however it was all in French which neither of us understood! We tried many recipes and methods with very mixed results. Our greatest achievement in those first months was that we managed to tick off every cheese fault that the book specified. These included a hideous looking contamination called ‘hair of the cat’, which resulted in long grey hairs growing out of our cheeses.”

Cyril Back presenting the latest Fairview Wine and Cheese offering

Fairview enlisted the assistance of Michel Agostinelli, a passionate Italian who had settled in South Africa after arriving as a POW during World War Two. Together with Charles (to whom Cyril had kindly passed the responsibility of the cheesery), Agostinelli began to develop the cheesery and the processes and disciplines involved. Cyril was soon satisfied that the quality of the Fairview cheeses was good enough to serve and they were offered along with wine tastings in the tasting room. The arrival of a large group of French engineers in Cape Town to work on a new power plant, added impetus to the cheesery as they quickly became fans and returned regularly during their stay. Goats’ milk cheese was a tough sell in South Africa in the 1980s as it was not a product that consumers were familiar with at all. But as time passed, both the size of the herd and the range of cheeses grew, with expansion to the cheesery taking place.

In 1995 the Vineyard Cheesery took a significant step forward thanks to two key events. Louis Lourens joined Fairview as head cheesemaker and Jersey cows’ milk cheese production was introduced.

Charles, Beryl and Cyril Back proudly presenting their latest range of Fairview Wine and Cheese in front of the Tasting Room

Louis’ knowledge, passion and dedication quickly took the production to new levels of quality and his professional approach began to show in the systems and styles of cheese produced. Traditional recipe cream cheeses, Brie, Camembert and blue mould cheeses were added to the range and Fairview’s products began to garner accolades and awards. Roydon Camembert, the flagship product in the range, was awarded the Gold Medal at the World Cheese Awards no less than 5  times in 7 years, a performance that did not go down well with the French no doubt!

The Fairview Vineyard Cheesery is based in Paarl in the Western Cape and produces a range of over 20 cows’ milk and goat’s milk artisanal cheeses that are sold in all major centres in South Africa. Fairview products are sold both in the catering market and major retailers.

Our award-winning goats

Fairview offers a range of locally and internationally awarded artisanal cheeses including white mould, blue mould, feta and cream cheese styles. The cheesery sources the bulk of its cows’ milk from a leading Jersey milk dairy. The Saanen goats’ milk used for production is supplied by the resident herd of over 1000 goats. The factory is fully audited and complies with international hygiene and safety regulations. The Fairview range of cheeses is certified Halaal and Kosher.

The Fairview Vineyard Cheesery’s team is lead by cheese maker Louis Lourens, who has been with the company since 1990. His extensive experience and insight into the industry is vital in maintaining Fairview’s position as an industry leader and innovator. Lourens is assisted by cheese maker Bruce Rowbotham, who joined the company in 2005. In addition, Fairview has assembled a team of experienced staff and food technologists who assist in all aspects of new product development and quality control. Fairview’s sales and administration department deals with South Africa’s leading retailers, ensuring that the company’s mark of quality extends from its products through to its client and customer service.

Louis Lourens, working his magic, in the cheese factory

The production facility has been built and expanded so as to facilitate the efficient production of a range of products utilising differing cultures and moulds, while maintaining the hygiene and control standards required of a world class facility. Access is strictly controlled and the cheesery is not open to the public. The production facility processes over 16 000 litres of Jersey cows’ milk and 2 000 litres of Saanen goats’ milk daily, with production running seven days a week. This translates into a production of approximately 900 tons of cheese per annum. The Fairview Vineyard Cheesery is fully HACCP accredited, with audits taking place annually. The factory also has Kosher and Halaal certification.

 

Our Fairview Cheese offering today

 

 

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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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