Charles Back
Charles Back, owner of the Fairview Wine and Cheese farm, has once again pioneered an innovative world-first. Those who have visited the Fairview farm and seen the signature Goat Tower, will be forgiven for assuming the goats are solely used for goats milk and cheese. After years of experimentation, Fairview has launched a new, rather [...]
The Fairview Goat Tower is one of the most recognisable features of the Cape winelands. It was built by current Fairview owner Charles Back, in 1981. The tower was inspired by a structure that his parents had seen in Portugal during a holiday trip a few years earlier. This trip had inspired the purchase of [...]
A new Goat Tower has arrived The second Goat Tower to be modelled directly on the Fairview tower has recently been completed in Argentina. The Fairview Goat Tower has become one of the instantly recognisable symbols of the Paarl winelands, with its resident goats probably the most photographed livestock in South Africa! In 2007 a [...]
Fairview has a strong association with Shiraz and it was one of the first grape varietals bottled under the Fairview label in 1974. When we developed our single vineyard tier it was natural that Shiraz would be an important wine, and there are three in the range. The Beacon Shiraz is produced using grapes from [...]
Continue reading about Single vineyard wines – The Beacon Shiraz
A bottle (or two) of wine makes a great, reliable gift that is always appreciated. And let’s face it, it’s much more interesting than socks! At Fairview, the December and January holidays bring with them many returning guests, stocking up for their festive celebrations and taking a few bottles back home with them. There is [...]
Some people tell me that I can be a bit restless at times. Probably fair. But I have been making wine in South Africa for about 35 years now and every day seems to throw up a combination of things to challenge you and things to get really excited about. I love to explore new opportunities [...]
Over the years I have often experienced the challenges faced by us smaller, independent wine producers when it comes to listing wines with restaurant chains. This can be extremely frustrating as there seem to be so many barriers to entry in place which keep some fantastic wines off wine lists. In South Africa there are [...]
This post follows part 4 Tasting in Fukuoka The next day I was off to a tasting at Fukuoka. It was a bit smaller than Tokyo but I was surprised to meet a lot of Fairview fans and had to pose for photos with many customers. Once again Takako was making sure that everything ran [...]
This post follows part 3 Meeting the press in Tokyo The next morning I was collected punctually by Takako Osawa from out Japanese importers Mottox. She has previously been to see us in South Africa with a group from the company. Mottox set up a room at their offices in Tokyo for the press tasting. [...]
This post follows from Part 1 My first experience in Korea was of one of the most incredible airports that I have ever been in. Seriously impressive. I think that South Africa’s four largest airports could fit inside it! I was met by JE from our Korean agents, Naru Global. JE was possibly the friendliest, [...]
