Fairview Shiraz
£23.00
£30.67 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
Only 5 bottles left
Concours Mondial de Bruxelles GoldConcours Mondial de Bruxelles Gold
Paarl Shiraz with a Cape accent, generous dark fruit lifted by something fresher, more savoury, more interesting. Fairview's southern-slope vineyards catch cool ocean breezes that keep this wine precise where lesser Shirazes turn jammy. A reliable bottle for a midweek lamb roast or a weekend braai, and an easy introduction to what South African Shiraz does best.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
Our Verdict
We taste a lot of Paarl Shiraz, and Fairview's is the one we keep coming back to. Charles Back's fingerprints are all over it, that signature balance of generosity and restraint, with the cool southern-slope fruit doing the heavy lifting. It's a wine for people who want their Shiraz savoury rather than sweet, structured rather than soft. Perfect for a roast lamb supper, a quiet Tuesday with a good book, or as a no-fuss gift for a serious drinker. If you enjoy this, the Fairview Pinotage is the natural next step in exploring what this estate does best.
Tasting Notes
Pour and you get a deep, intense red in the glass, with blackcurrant leading on the nose, lifted by a savoury thread of rosemary and warm baking spice, clove, a touch of crushed black pepper. The palate is medium-bodied with tannins that have shape and grip without overpowering, carrying flavours of spiced plum and dark cherry through to a long, lingering finish. It's a Shiraz that talks rather than shouts, with that distinctly Cape combination of ripe fruit and herbal lift.
About This Wine
Fairview has been quietly rewriting the rules of South African wine for decades, and this Shiraz is a perfect example of why. The estate sits on the southern slopes of Paarl Mountain, where the vines look out all the way to the coast, and feel it, too. Sea breezes drift in, temperatures drop after sunset, and the grapes hold onto something fresh and savoury that hot-climate Shiraz so often loses. Pour it and you'll see what we mean. Deep, intense red in the glass, with a nose that opens on blackcurrant and crushed rosemary, threaded with peppery spice and a hint of something almost herbal, the wild scrub of the Cape, bottled. The palate is medium-bodied and beautifully structured, with spiced plum, dark berry and a long, lingering finish framed by tannins that mean business without ever pulling focus. This is a brilliant food wine. Reach for it with a Sunday roast of lamb, a slow-cooked beef stew, or, when the British summer finally turns up, anything off the charcoal. It also makes a serious friend of aged Gouda and a sharp Cheddar. Decant it for an hour if you're drinking it young, and watch it open up. Delivered across the UK, and a thoughtful gift for anyone who appreciates Cape reds with character. Charles Back and his team don't make boring wine, and this Shiraz proves it.
Food Pairing
This is a wine built for proper cooking. The savoury herbal lift makes it brilliant alongside roast lamb studded with rosemary and garlic, while the structured tannins handle a charred ribeye with ease. For something simpler, try it with a slow-cooked beef stew on a cold evening, or a board of mature Cheddar and aged Gouda with quince paste.
- —Roast lamb with rosemary and garlic
- —Charred ribeye steak with peppercorn sauce
- —Slow-cooked beef and red wine stew
- —Mature Cheddar and aged Gouda with quince paste
- —Venison sausages with caramelised onion mash
How to Serve
Decanting
Give it an hour in a decanter when young. The tannins are well-structured and air softens them noticeably, while the rosemary and savoury spice aromatics really come into focus.
Behind the Wine
Paarl can run hot, but Fairview's Shiraz blocks sit on the southern slopes of Paarl Mountain, where the land opens toward False Bay and pulls in cooling sea breezes through the afternoon. That breath of ocean air slows ripening just enough to lock in acidity and lift the aromatics, while the elevation keeps nights cool. The result is Shiraz with ripe, sun-warmed fruit on one hand and a savoury, spice-driven backbone on the other, generous without being heavy, structured without being austere.
Ageing Potential
Drinking beautifully on release and built to evolve gracefully over the next six to eight years. Expect the framing tannins to soften, the fruit to deepen towards leather and dried herbs, and the savoury complexity to grow with time in the cellar.
The Land
The southern flank of Paarl Mountain is the secret. South-facing aspect means less direct afternoon sun, the slope opens straight out toward the coast for sea breezes to funnel up, and the elevation drops temperatures further still. Underneath sit varied soils, granite-derived with patches of shale, that hold just enough moisture to keep the vines steady through dry Cape summers.
The Winemaking
Hand-picked fruit is the starting point, and from there the approach is built around restraint. Fermentation aims to coax out the savoury spice and dark fruit character of the site rather than push for extraction, and the wine sees a measured period of oak ageing, enough to round the tannins and add a whisper of cedar and smoke, but never enough to mask the rosemary-and-blackcurrant signature underneath. The framing tannins are firm in youth, which is why a decant of an hour rewards anyone opening it early.
About the Producer
Fairview
Fairview is one of those Cape estates that refuses to sit still. Run by Charles Back, whose family has farmed this corner of Paarl for generations, it's built a reputation on curiosity rather than tradition for tradition's sake, planting Mediterranean varieties when nobody else would, making goat's cheese alongside the wine, and launching the cheeky Goats do Roam range that ruffled feathers in Châteauneuf and won hearts everywhere else. The wines reflect the man: serious about quality, allergic to pretension. Whether it's a benchmark Pinotage or a fortified curiosity like this one, you get the sense that someone genuinely enjoyed making it.