Fairview proves that wine and cheese are a perfect match

April 7, 2010

On Monday Lovely Lis and I took a drive out to the winelands to have some lunch and wine.

After stopping at about four estates who were all closed for the Easter weekend we decided to hot-foot it to Fairview - which we knew would be open. On the way there we passed Warwick which looked more packed than I’ve ever seen it.

Any wine estate that was closed on Monday should phone Mike Ratcliffe and ask how much money Warwick made because they kept their doors open for families and wine enthusiasts on a public holiday. It’s bloody pathetic how many estates close their doors early on weekends and public holidays.

Anyway back to Fairview - we arrived and it was packed.

I haven’t been to Fairview for some time and they have done some amazing things to the layout and design of the tasting rooms - it has a great atmosphere.

We opted for the ‘Masters’ tasting at R60 a head and were ushered by a friendly staff member to the beautiful Beryl Back private tasting room where we were seated at our own table.

We were promptly given a bottle of water each, a platter of cheeses to be paired with the eight wines we were going to taste, a basket of bread and a selection of olive oils for dipping.

Now if anyone says that cheese and wine don’t go together - they are a wine snob. A wine pervert on the other hand knows that wine goes with anything and is delicious with cheese.

We started with the Fairview Darling Chenin Blanc 2009 which was bloody marvelous and a close second to the standout wine of the tasting - pineapple, honey and melon flavours that were wonderful with the rich goats milk chevin.

Next on the list was a fantastic, fragrant Viogner - did you know that Fairview was the first estate in South Africa to plant and bottle Viognier (well so we were told).

The Spice Route Savignon Blanc 2009 was one of the few sav blanc’s I’ve actually liked - asparagus, lime and fresh cut grass flavours that really appealed.

The Mouvedre and Pinotage were both competent wines but not to my liking so I’ll move on to the two stand out wines and the biggest disappointment of the tasting:

Fairview Caldera 2007 - a beautiful, rustic blend of Grenache, Mouvedre and Shiraz. Excites the senses and keeps you guessing - I picked up brooding dark fruit and tobacco.

Fairview Eenzaamheid Shiraz 2006 - by far my favourite wine of the tasting and one of the best Shiraz’s I’ve had in a while. Previously known as the Fairview Solitude Shiraz - this wine is majestic in every way. Soft, silky tannins - light berry and spice flavours and a gentle ’stroll through the woods’ finish.

And now what was meant to be the highlight of the tasting was actually a little disappointing:

Fairview Cyril Back 2006 - a beautifully packaged wine that has so much bitter tannin I reckon it will only be good for drinking in about 10 years or more. It shows some fresh acidity but the caged flavour potential isn’t that apparent. Not worth the R350 in my opinion.

The cheeses served with these wines were carefully chosen, perfectly matched and an absolute joy for the senses.

Fairview is a tourist haven and far from a boutique wine snob experience - but it is fun, tasty and well worth a visit.

It’s wine tourism at it’s best and a lot of South African wine estates could learn a great deal from it’s success.

Posted in Estates, Red Wine, White Wine, Wine Tours