Three Fairview Wines excel in National Wine Challenge / Top 100 2016

Tuesday, 3 May, 2016
Fairview Wines
Three Fairview Wines were given top honours at the sixth annual NWC/Top 100 South African Wine Awards 2016. The panel of national and international judges of this premier wine challenge aims to identify winning South African wines that compete on a global scale by cultivar and blend.

This year, the judging panel selected three Fairview Wines to receive Top100 status Double Platinum awards. The Fairview Wines that were awarded are the Fairview Nurok, Fairview Petit Sirah and Fairview Cyril Back.

The Fairview Nurok 2015 is a newly released wine that holds sentimental value for Charles Back. The label refers to two significant stories. Firstly, Charles’ wife Diane’s maiden name was Nurok, and it was she who painted the label artwork. Secondly, the history of the Nurok name tells the story of a Jewish boy from Lithuania who dived into an icy river to retrieve a heavy bell that fell into the river while being transported to a nearby cathedral. The Fairview Nurok 2015 is a blend of Viognier, Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. The Viognier, Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc are from trellised Fairview vineyards on the slopes of Paarl Mountain planted on decomposed granite and the Roussanne, also from the Fairview farm, was planted on terraced, stock-by-paaltjie vineyards.

“The Nurok has been a real passion project at Fairview. A lot of thought has gone into the making of the individual components. The final blending is really meticulous in order to get the right balance between the different varieties, the palate weight and the subtle oaking. The Blended Dry White category in South Africa is probably the most exciting category in South Africa at the moment,” says winemaker, Anthony de Jager.

Fairview Petit Sirah 2013 (also known as Durif) is a natural crossing of Syrah and Peloursin, discovered by François Durif in the south of France in 1880. Its intense colour and good tannin structure make it an excellent wine for ageing. Today the variety is mostly grown in California and Australia. Petite Sirah was introduced to South Africa by Fairview owner Charles Back after tasting it abroad. It thrives in our warm climate, both in Paarl and in the Swartland.

“The Petit Sirah is doing very well, since it is the third year that it is included in the Top 100. It is a very unique variety to Fairview, as well as to South Africa. It’s been an amazing experience planting and making this wine. It is awesome seeing this wine being acknowledged,” de Jager added.

The Fairview Cyril Back 2012 also has sentimental value for the Back family, since it was made in honour of Charles Back’s late father, Cyril Back, who introduced handcrafted winemaking at Fairview. The grapes for the Cyril Back 2012 were sourced from two dry farmed vineyards, from Agter-Paarl and Jakkalsfontein in the Swartland region. The vines on both sites are pruned to a “bosstok” or bush vine. The vineyards are regularly visited during the ripening period and tested by tasting, visual and analytical examination to determine the ideal picking date.

“Cyril Back is our pinnacle wine. It is the best selection of barrels from the best vineyards on the farm. Cyril Back is made of tiny hand crafted parcels that are finely blended. It is left to mature in barrel and bottle until it is ready for release. This wine should mature beautifully over the next five to ten years,” says de Jager.

Fairview Wines also excelled in other categories at the NWC/Top 100 Wine awards and received awards in three other categories as well. Fairview Nurok was awarded with the Grand Cry national Champion “Best in Class”, Fairview Jakkalsfontein Shiraz and Fairview Drie Papen Fontein were both awarded with Double Gold awards and both Fairview Paarl Chenin Blanc and Fairview Homtini received Double Silver awards.

The Fairview Wines that were included in 2016’s Top 100 SA Wines will be available for purchase in a combined case in the Fairview Tasting room and on Cellar Door (http://cellar.fairview.co.za). These wines are also available for tasting at the Fairview Tasting Room in Paarl, open 7 days a week from 9am- 5pm.

For more information on Fairview or to book a wine tasting, please visit www.fairview.co.za, email: tasting@fairview.co.za or call 021 863 2450.

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