in the vineyard : Established in 1693, Fairview cellar with its spectacular view of Table Mountain lies on the south western slopes of Paarl at the Cape of Good Hope. Fairview was purchased by my grandfather in 1937 and I am the third generation of my family to make wine here. We have vineyards in the leading coastal grape producing areas, where geographic and climatic diversity allows us to craft a range of truly distinctive wines, complemented by Fairview’s range of award winning artisanal cheeses. To Life!
The wine was produced using Chenin Blanc grapes (from 33 year old bushvines) and young Muscat grapes from the Fairview farm, grown on decomposed granite soils.
about the harvest: Fruit was harvested by hand over a 3 day period, from 18 to 20 February 2010. The reason for this is that the bunches are individually picked when they are perfectly ripe, and therefore the vineyard is passed through a number of times until all the grapes have been brought in. It is also a very labor intensive harvesting process, as each bunch has any damaged or imperfect berries removed carefully, while in the vineyard.
Given that the Chenin Blanc vineyard is so old, the grapes ripen later than the rest of the white grapes on the farm. The moderate, dry run-up to the harvest ensured that there was no chance of rot damage.