Farmstead Cheeses and Wines: Jeff’s Blog

Today, we visit the wineries of Charles Back.

Charles is arguably the CRobert Mondavi of South Africa, producing great wines in a user friendly, marketing-centric environment. He’s the mind behind Fairview, Goats do Roam and Spice Route wineries, and the head of a bustling food and wine empire, producing 25 different varieties of cheese, and running one of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations

We piled into the bus, trusty Mario at the helm.

First stop, Spice Route Winery, located in the Swaartlands, a dry region outside of Paarl, that is being transformed into a world class wine region. The area is reminiscent of the Pelouse, the wheat producing area in eastern Washington state that one drives through on approach to Yakima and Walla Walla - rolling hills, farmland and not much else.

Back has been a pioneering spirit force here, transforming a wine producing region heretofore known for flabby Chenin and over cropped Pinotage into a place where elegant and powerful wines are produced! He tore out much of the old vine material and planted many varietals: Shiraz, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Petite Syrah, Barbera, Tannat, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Carignan, Viognier, the port variety Souzão; Tannat, Merlot; and the Cape’s own Pinotage.

Like eastern Washington, the Swaartlands produces some kick ass wine, including the much lauded Malabar, a red wine blend that is small batch fermented and the result of rigorous selection, both at crush and blending. We were met by Charl du Pessis, a small man who is in training for the South African equivalent of the Tour de France: lean and mean, without an ounce of fat.

We toured the winery and tasted through the lineup. I was particularly impressed by their Pinotage, blended New World style, and the Malabar, a Syrah-based wine that was named South African Wine of the Year by Decanter magazine.

We piled back into the bus and drove towards Paarl, stopping for lunch at one of Fairview’s wine growers, Primo farm - the home of Jan and Albe Greef. Their modest, old farmhouse is set amongst trees, with lovely views of far off Table Mountain and the Paarl countryside. Mrs. Greef made a lovely simple lunch and we sat out on picnic tables under the trees, enjoying the food and Mr. Greef’s Primo Pinotage. The Greef’s are a down to earth farming couple, and it was great talking to Jan about cows and silage and crop yields. If you ignored his Afrikaans accents, we could have been sitting in Nebraska…

We piled back into the Mariomobile, back towards Paarl to the Fairview/Goats do Roam wine farm. This is no typical South African winery - there’s a bit of theme park, blended with ideas from successful winery operations around the world and just plain fun.

As you approach, you see the Goat Tower, a fanciful medieval styled tower with an outdoor spiral staircase, loaded with goats!!

We stopped outside the tower for a photo shoot, and then went to the Goatshed - combination coffee house and gift shop for a cup of South Africa’s best espresso.

Inside, we were met by the great man - Charles was there, gregarious and friendly, a man with twinkling eyes, laughing at some half remembered joke.

After coffee, we saw Fairview’s rolling bladder press, extracting the last bit of nectar from grapes destined for their Straw Wine. Standing nearby was Anthony de Jager, Fairview/Goats do Roam’s winemaker, a tall man with piercing blue eyes who oversees the vinification of millions of bottles of wine per year.

We saw the huge fermentation tanks, the bottling and label line, and then we were off to taste through much of the Fairview Goat’s line. As expected, the wines were all top notch, but the surprise of the tasting was their tete du cuvée wine: the Cyril Back syrah, a cellar blend of the best syrah the company can produce.

Some of our group was bleary eyed, inattentive, and silent from too much late night partying, so they missed the chance to connect with one of the world’s great winemakers. Shame on them - to travel halfway around the world and be more concerned with drinking beer than to improve their knowledge of wine. Perhaps someday they’ll realize what they missed.

Okay, I’m off my soap box now.

Then we marched a few kilometers to Fairview’s goat farm and cheese production facilty, to watch the girls being milked. Despite the goaty stench, it was fascinating to see the milking line, chat with Donald the facility manager, and scrape goat poop from the bottom of our shoes.

Then it was up the hill to the Back estate, a beautifully decorated 17th century Cape farmhouse - thatched roof and one foot thick walls, to meet Charles and his charming wife, Di, their humongous dogs, and several Fairview staff members for conversation, wine and dinner.

Charles’ and Di’s home is a wonderland - almost everywhere you look is a view taken from a coffee table book, an eclectic blend of old and new, high and low, serious and funny - much like this charming couple, able ambassadors for their country’s wine industry.

We were served a meal of tradition cape cuisine - Cape Malay and native dishes, cooked in a Cape Dutch potjie - a cast iron braising pot cooked over an open fire.

The meal was long and fun. Three plus hours of great wines and great conversation. Being a brilliant hostess, Di made sure that each American was seated next to a South African, so there was a true exchange of cultures, ideas and views.