It’s hard to believe that 2017 is swooshing by as swiftly as it has so far! As April comes to a close and May begins, we’re checking our calendars in disbelief. A date that one should always be prepared for is Mother’s Day, coming up steadily on Sunday, 14th May.

Since 1937, Fairview has been a family-run business, currently being nurtured by owner Charles Back. Charles always warmly reminisces on how Fairview has grown from strength to strength, explaining that it would not have been so if it wasn’t for his father Cyril and mother Beryl’s constant support, virtue and nurturing nature.

Cyril and Beryl Back were the lifeline of Fairview for many decades, from bottling independently and initiating the Cape’s first public wine auction in 1974, to starting a dairy herd in 1980. As Charles joined to work on the farm in 1978, it was thanks to his parents support that the farm has grown as it has. Whenever the name of Beryl is brought up around the farm, people who knew her respond with a smile and remember her so fondly. She was always there – first thing in the morning cutting cheese for a tasting to pouring wine in our Tasting Room and sharing her many stories. She was even a talented artist, and painted the mural at the Fairview entrance. Today, the garden in front of the Tasting Room is in memory of Charles’s parents, and the Master Tasting room is called the Beryl Back Tasting Room.

After Beryl’s passing, Charles made the La Beryl Blanc to honour his late mother, creating a traditional straw-dried sweet wine that is fragrant, succulent and with balanced finesse. A labour of love, the dessert wine has gone on to win multiple awards, including being in the Top 100 and receiving 5-star Platter ratings!

Why not include La Beryl Blanc as an extra sweet gift for your mom, this Sunday, Mother’s Day (14th May)?
FREE delivery on 12 wines or more!

Available online and at our Tasting Room for R200. Click to buy: https://www.fairview.co.za/product/fairview-la-beryl-blanc/

The Fairview Main Entrance garden, dedicated in loving memory to Cyril and Beryl back

Catching Beryl pouring Fairview wine for a tasting

The original mural at the Fairview entrance painted by Beryl

The Beryl Back Tasting Room

The post The Sweetest Mother’s Day Yet | La Beryl Blanc appeared first on Fairview.

We’re also running a very exciting competition – from starters to mains, and all the condiments in between, we’ve put together all the ingredients you’ll need to prepare a Valentine’s Day feast at your home for your love. And we’ve thrown in the vino too, of course! All you need to do to stand a chance to win this delicious prize is like our Facebook page and then tell us if you prefer our delectable pork chop dinner or the scrumptious lamb shank option, and tag your sweetheart! 

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With everything we do here on the farm – whether it’s rearing our beloved goats to provide us with the creamiest milk to make our range of Chevin rolls, or kneading out dough at 4am on rainy mornings for our artisanal breads – everything – is made with intention. And that rings particularly true for our range of wines.

Philip Pullman writes that ‘After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.’ I’d argue that wine should be in there too, but stories certainly make life richer. This is why, once a month, I’d like to tell you a tale about some of our wines, to share my intentions behind every bottling. We’ll start with a wine that is very dear to me, called Nurok.

In Lithuanian, ‘Nurok’ means diver. It is also my wife Diane’s maiden surname. Of course, this is no coincidence. As we are both descendants from Lithuanian families, we were once equally curious to go unearth our roots, and so we headed to Eastern Europe for a trip to discover more. What we learnt was an inspiring tale of Di’s ancestors in adversity …

At the end of the 17th century, Lithuanians were taking on the Catholic faith and built a cathedral in Siauliai in celebration. It was the middle of winter, and a heavy bell that was being transported to the cathedral fell into a frozen river. The locals could not retrieve it. Seeing the situation and wanting to help, a brave young boy named Wulf dived into the river, attached a rope to the bell and, with help from the villagers, hauled it onto the riverbank. Refusing all reward, Wulf asked that the Jews be allowed to return to Siauliai. His wish was granted, and the citizens bestowed on him the name Nurok. From then on, he and his descendants were known by this name, and there was harmony between Christians and Jews within their village town.

Upon returning home and inspired by Old World blends, we released Nurok, a blend of Viognier, Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne Di created a beautiful painting, which I used for the front label which you will see today both on the label and hanging in the Tasting Room. As a consistent accolade winner, having received 5 stars in Platter’s Wine Guide two years running (2011 and 2012 vintages) , I invite you to share in on a wine that I believe to be complete, wholesome and complex, invigorating, and totally versatile.

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