At Fairview, we have a shared passion for ethical and authentic produce, prepared with love. To produce fantastic produce – whether it is our wine, cheese, vegetables or meat, it all starts with sustainable and holistic farm practices. Over the years,  our team has been implementing better practices to ensure we can always yield the best results. Here are just some of the ways we have been doing this:

HEALTHY SOIL:

We believe healthy plants begin with healthy soil. Healthy plants mean less pests and disease. In and amongst various techniques we are currently using to keep our soil in the best of health such as crop rotation, mulching and  composting, we have also started planting Lupins, a flowering plant, in the weaker soils. Lupins are wonderful as they fix nitrogen in the soil from the atmosphere, thus acting like a natural fertiliser. We will dig up these plants next year and replace them with proper crops.

GROWING OUR OWN WHEAT:

We’re growing our own wheat! We have planted 250 hectares of wheat, as we have a 100 ton per year requirement to make our own bread.

FEED FOR OUR ANIMALS:

Over the years, we have planted 120 hectares of feed for our animals. Fairview is home to five key types of livestock – poultry, pigs and beef cattle, goats and sheep. They serve to supply the restaurant, produce milk for our cheese and produce store under our ‘farm to table’ model, as well as help to maintain and improve the health of our soil. Healthy soil means healthy plants, which in turn means better quality produce. Our animals are free to roam as much as possible, fed a natural, varied diet and treated with compassion and respect by our farmers. We welcome you to watch our animals, but please do not touch.

GOATSHED RESTAURANT 

Sourcing from the surrounding fields and pasture, as well as other local farms, the Goatshed Restaurants highlights the abundance of our Paarl-based farm and valley. Every week, our chefs team brainstorm and curate a weekly special so that all our guests are offered a multi-taste feast featuring the best offerings from the field. As of late, we’ve also introduced a Wine on Tap concept to our restaurant, meaning the wine comes straight from the cellar and is available on ‘draught’. There are various benefits about wine on tap, with one of the key factors being that it is more environmentally friendly. The Goatshed’s ‘no-fuss’ way of dining and commitment to buying locally farmed produce makes us proud to be seen as frontrunners in conscious consumption and a hit with visitors who are recognising the love of real food.

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By Donald Mouton, our Farm Manager

Unfortunately, our annual rainfall in 2017 was again way below par at 292mm. Luckily, our Suid-Agter Paarl irrigation scheme was very fortunate to pump winter water that was just going to flow into the sea from the Berg river. This gave me the opportunity to irrigate our vineyards in the late winter and build up some reserve in the soil. We could also fill up our dams before all pumping from the river was stopped as the water restrictions tightened this summer.

We were thus able to irrigate our vineyards during the season and fortunate to have a crop that is looking good in quantity and quality. The bunch count per vine this season is much higher than the 2016/17 season.

Harvest started 12 days later than in 2017, we started by harvesting Red Muscadel on the 24^th of January and on the 25^th we hand selected the first Viognier for Stephanie’s Fairview Brut MCC bubbly.

Up to date, we have harvested all the white cultivars and even though the bunch counts were higher, the bunches are small and light and on average we are down on yield by about 25%.

The Pinotage is up in yield and Anthony is very much impressed with the first wine made from the Pinotage bush vines.

I’ll keep you posted on the harvest, hold thumbs that all the reds are up in yield!

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The unsung contributors to the wine industry were honoured with the iconic 1659 medal of honour last night at the annual Wine Harvest Commemorative Event at the historic Groot Constantia Estate, including our very own Cellar Master, Awie Adolf! Congratulations Awie! Thank you for all your fantastic leadership, loyalty and work ethic over 37 years! You’re always the one to shine a smile when we see you, and you are a light in the Fairview family!

The medal has been awarded to significant role-players in the industry since 1974. Last year, our very own Charles Back was awarded with this award, and during his speech, made mention of the ‘real heroes’ of Fairview and the wine industry at large (to read more, click here). It was thus truly special that this year, the Groot Constantia board decided to symbolically honour the voiceless and often faceless wine workers over the centuries by making them the collective recipient of the 1659 medal, as without them the wine industry could never have flourished.

Dr Ernest Messina, Chairperson of Groot Constantia, said this year’s award heralds a shift in emphasis of what was the practice until now: “Our purpose is to give a voice to all contributors, to bring to light new perceptions of historical facts and to confirm greater appreciation and respect for everyone’s contributions.”

Dr Messina said he trusts this will usher in a tipping point for the industry – especially in changing attitudes, giving recognition and achieving unity. He emphasised that everyone’s stories must be told to create a more representative picture of the role-players.

“Described in wine language – the blend is more complete and thus better. In this way we achieve justice. This industry is owned by all of us as we are co-creators of the industry historically and presently. We must continue to build in harmony on the solid foundation laid by Simon van der Stel and so many others who will sadly remain anonymous.”

Representatives from the industry received the 1659 medal of honour on behalf of the wine workers, including our very own Awie Adolf. The award will rotate between different venues in the wine industry and will ultimately reside at Groot Constantia.

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Firstly, the soil is cleared and plowed. After that, careful measurements are made in order to ensure that the rows of vines are as perfectly straight as can be. This allows for easier harvesting later on. As you can see, measuring out an entire block is quite a process in itself!

Donald Mouton, our farm manager, gave the Cinsault planting team a short lesson on the effect that differently dug holes have on grapevine root systems.

In some heavier soils, unless one digs a hole in just the right way, the roots can become constrained and aren’t able to grow in the way that they should. This impacts the ability of the plant to absorb nutrients from the soil, which in turn affects the health of the vines, and ultimately the taste and quality of the wine.

Finally, the new Cinsault vines are planted! After all of the digging and measuring, seeing a field full of the final product is a sight to behold. These vines are destined to become bush vines, and will only be able to be harvested in 2020.

We’re already looking forward to it!

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If you’ve ever tried some of our Single Vineyard wines, you might have come across the term ‘old vines’. But what exactly do we mean by that?

It’s quite simple really. We mean vines that are old. And why is this worth writing about? Well, every vineyard is special. But there’s something truly magical about an old vine vineyard. When it comes to old vineyards, a winemaking team starts tending to not only the vines, but the heritage too. And even though the yield may be going down (i.e. less wine) year on year, the fruit of the vine produces wine of great structure, concentrated flavours and aromas worthy of conservation. A further added benefit includes a deep root system, meaning these vines are hardier in extreme weather conditions, such as the current draught we are experiencing. Much like a fully grown adult versus a young teen, the older vines are more self-sufficient, cutting down on vineyard maintenance and costs.

So what counts as old vines? In South Africa, ‘old’ vines are generally accepted as being 35 years or more. In Old World wine producing countries such as France and Italy, that number drastically increases to up to 120 years. The reason our vines are relatively youthful is due to a number of factors, including past viruses and planting more economical crops. Plus, our history of winemaking is way younger than our Old World counterparts (hence South Africa forming part of the ‘New World’ grouping of winemaking countries).

Well-respected old vine specialist, Rosa Kruger, estimates that South Africa has approximately 2,162 hectares that qualify as ‘old vines’. At Fairview, we are fortunate to have a handful of legitimate ‘old vine’ vineyards. For example, we pick our Carignan grapes from the Bassons’ bushvine vineyards in the Swartland side of the Perdeberg Mountain. It is the oldest Carignan vineyard in the country, planted in 1972, and now reaching the ripe age of 45 years. The vines grow on Malmesbury shale soils, which provide elegance and sheer complexity to the final wine. We make our Pegleg Carignan from these grapes, a Single Vineyard wine that has a unique story to tell.

The Basson family, who have farmed at Die Slot for three generations, were one of the first families to plant Carignan in South Africa. At 17 years of age, Cobus Basson was helping his father plant vines when a tractor overturned and rolled onto him, causing the loss of a leg. Being a man of great humour and spirit, he is affectionately known amongst local farmers as “Houtbeen” (Pegleg) Basson. Our Single Vineyard Carignan is named Pegleg as an homage to a man and wine which are both bold and spirited with enormous character and depth.

We invite you to come and taste the difference. Our Pegleg Carignan is available here.

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