If you've ever been suspicious of Pinotage, too smoky, too rustic, too divisive, let Fairview talk you round. This is the grape at its most polished and persuasive: dark ruby in the glass, with ripe red cherry, blackberry and plum tumbling out of the nose, all wrapped in a soft halo of chocolate and vanilla from time in barrel. Take a sip and the texture does the talking. Full-bodied but smooth, with firm, fresh tannins giving it shape, and a long, lingering finish that keeps inviting you back.
The fruit comes from a mix of older dryland bush vines and trellised vineyards on the Fairview farm in Paarl, the warmer, granite-soiled neighbour of Stellenbosch, where Pinotage ripens to plummier, more generous expression. Anthony de Jager and his team pick block by block to catch each parcel at peak maturity, then settle the wine for fifteen months in French and American oak (around 15% of it new). The result is a Pinotage that feels considered rather than chest-thumping, built for drinking now but happy to rest in the rack for a few years yet.
This is a wine that wants something on the plate. Pour it with a charred ribeye, a slow-cooked beef cheek, or, for the full Cape experience, a fragrant Cape Malay lamb curry. It also handles roast duck and grilled portobellos beautifully.
A reliable gift for any red-drinker, and the kind of bottle South African expats greet like an old friend. We ship UK-wide, usually within a few days.
