November 2007    by Peridot Communications

Since its inception, Fairview Wine and Cheese Estate outside Paarl, has become well-known for its constant search for new wine varieties and experimental winemaking methods. This quest for the unknown led to Fairview being the first wine producer to plant and bottle Viognier in South Africa. Fifteen years later, Fairview can boast with a unique varietal that continues to accumulate the accolades.

According to owner Charles Back, he first tasted Viognier in 1989 while travelling in the Rhône region in France. “I 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 already thinking about the soils and sites that I was fortunate enough to have come across over the years."

"Upon my return to South Africa, we immediately started the process of sourcing the vines and by the early 1990's, we were harvesting the first fruit from our Viognier vineyards. Twenty years later and looking back on ten years of bottling this varietal, we are still discovering the huge potential of the grapes. I am confident that the wines we are currently bottling are the best that we have made to date.  Viognier is a fantastic wine and pairs well with Cape-style cooking as well as many of our Fairview handcrafted cheeses,” says Back.

The sublimely elegant 2006 Fairview Viognier reflects the winemakers’ craft in garnering the complexity of this grape. The latest vintage is blended from four different sites around Paarl and offers a delicate balance between the fragrant opulence of fruit and a refined freshness on the palate. 

Fairview winemaker Anthony de Jager has been working with this intriguing varietal for the past ten years and admits that its traditional home in the Rhône valley, has definitely influenced the direction of his winemaking. 

“Fairview has always embraced innovation and we’ve had the freedom to experiment with this varietal over the years. While the similarities between the Rhône and the Cape winelands have provided us with a successful launch pad, the differences have allowed us to develop a style that is unique to the Cape. As winemaker, I continue to be surprised, inspired and challenged by the emerging character of each vintage. Viognier can also be successfully blended with certain white varietals as well as Shiraz and Mourvèdre, which has certainly had an impact on the Rhône revolution in the Cape,” mentions De Jager.