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.

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.

The post Regional Revival Range Chef’s Journey | Goatshed Dinner #5 appeared first on Fairview.

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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