Fairview - second visit

Commercial yet a nice place to visit.

Today we went to Fairview to buy a few bottles of wine. While there we decided to do a wine and cheese tasting for R25 pp. I was really glad we visited this place a second time as we had a really pleasant experience. Thankfully it wasn't too busy when we got there.

When you do a tasting at Fairview you can choose 6 wines to try. They have quite an extensive list so again it can be hard to choose. However, if you know what kind of wine you like, then the staff can help you to choose wine you will likely enjoy.

We had a really good tasting with Samantha. She was really good at her job. She was enthusiastic, polite, pleasant, and friendly. The tasting was informative and she went out of her way to make sure we enjoyed our experience at Fairview.

I tasted the Fairview Darling Riesling (R45) it had a lovely white stone fruit aroma, had nice acidity and a full mouth feeling on the palate. It was off dry. It had a slight bitter/dried apricot finish. I liked this wine.

The Fairview Darling Sauvignon Blanc (R55) I found was a little green.

Fairview Darling Chenin Blanc (R50) was nice, fruity and light. I liked it.

Fairview Chardonnay (R70) was lightly wooded. Not much on the nose. Pleasant on the palate. Quite a fresh taste.

Fairview Viognier (R70) Has the typical peach and apricot nose of a Viognier but it was very faint. Pleasant on the palate but with a stone fruit finish.

Fairview Brut (R120) is a blend of Viognier, Grenache Noir and Grenache Blanc. It was quite fresh.

Fairview Oom Pagel Semillon (R80) was nice and smooth, creamy and very nice. Liked this wine.

Fairview Sangiovese (R75) This is an Italian varietal. It was a little dry for my liking, I got aniseed and wild berries on the nose and on the taste also. It was a light wine.

Fairview Mouvedre (R70) quite light in body, nice fruitiness and a little dry.

Fairview Caldera (R110) had a lovely smell, was smooth on the palate, light and tiny bit dry on the finish. I liked this wine.

The bottle I came to buy was the Nurok and we were really lucky to get a tasting of this also. This was smooth, a little creamy and had pleasant fruit flavours. I liked this wine.

Primo Pinotage (R150) Was light-med in body, dry, little coffee/choc taste.

La Capra Pinot Grigio (R220 for a case of 6) was pleasant and easy drinking.

Between the two of us, we got to taste a nice range of wine.

We then went through to the cheese tasting and got to try 6 different cheeses. We spent a nice amount of time in this area stocking up on preserves, bread, cheese etc.

A visit to Fairview is very pleasant but it is commercial and a lot of people visit this place. I have eaten here a few times and it is also very pleasant and reasonably priced.

Solms Delta

Solms Delta is a lovely place. There is a museum at the entrance, restaurant (Fyndraai) with indoor and outdoor seating, and a tasting area which is outside under the beautiful trees.The whole place has a very nice relaxing feeling.

Friends had told us that the picnic at Solms Delta is really good, so we finally made our way out there and saw for ourselves what they were talking about. We started off the day with a tasting first, so we knew which wine to buy to accompany our picnic.

We sat outside at a nice long table, under the trees. The guy who did the tasting with us was really nice and provided a very informative tasting. He mentioned that he was brought up on this estate, so it was cool to have him run through the wines with us as he was informative and could tell us the history of the wines and names.

Included in the price for a picnic, you can do a wine tasting. As we hadn't tasted the wine before, we decided to do the tasting before purchasing a few bottles to go with our picnic.


We tasted the Cape Jazz Shiraz NV bubbly (R58) first. It was pleasant, easy drinking, like grapetiser. Dry yet a little sweet on the finish.

Next we tried the Amalie 2012 (R110) which was fruity, balanced, smooth and dry. It was lovely. I liked this wine.

Vastrap 2012 (R53) had a typical Chenin Blanc smell. It tasted fresh and had hints of apple and pear on the palate. It had a fresh finish. It was ok.

Lekkerwijn 2012 (R67) was dry, had a lovely fresh yet fruity flavour. Flavours I picked up were melon, strawberry and lime. It spent 11 months in 2nd fill barrels. It was a nice wine.

Langram 2012 (R55) is a blend of Pinotage, Shiraz, Mouvedre and Touriga Nacional. On the nose I picked up vanilla and blackcurrent. It was fruity and soft on the palate. It was quite light for a red wine. Easy drinking. It was a little bit of a fruit bomb and a little dry on the finish.

Hiervandaan 2011 (R120) was a blend of Shiraz, Mouvedre, Grenache Noir and Carignan. This wine had a lovely aroma.

Gemoedsrus 2010 is a Shiraz fortified wine (R200).

Dik Delta Perry NV (R40) was interesting.

After we purchased a few bottles, we picked up our picnic baskets and made our way to the picnic area. It was a nice five minute walk to get there but they do offer tractor rides to get there and back also. I liked the walk as it was very scenic with the lovely gardens and ponds. We found a nice shaded area to have our picnic. Blankets were supplied which was great.

In the picnic we had biltong, cheese and crackers, ribs, chicken, salad and a dessert. It was more than enough for each couple. The place is so tranquil and relaxing that it is a perfect way to spend a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

If you have children, then this is a nice option as there is plenty of grass area for them to run around and it is child friendly.

The one thing I want to add to this review is that you don't have to pre-pay for the picnic. You do have to book, but on the day, if the weather isn't ideal you can cancel your picnic and/or you can change your plans and eat at the restaurant instead. What I like about this is that there is a plan B if the weather doesn't play along.

I recommend a day out at Solms Delta.

Kaapzicht - tasting notes

Today I tasted two of Kaapzicht's wines at home.

Pinotage 2010 - Pungent fruity nose/Christmas fruit mince smell. Ripe fruity flavour, smooth, lingering finish, lovely. There is a smell and taste I can't recognise, it almost resembles Armaretto or almond and cherries. Maybe Christmas is so close it's affecting my thoughts/palate? I felt this wine had a strong alcohol feeling which also lingers. This is the only thing that puts me off this wine. It was a very smooth wine though!!

Estate Red Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 - also very smooth. Lighter in body to the Pinotage. Not as big in flavour either. It was a pleasant, easy drinking wine. I wasn't a fan of the finish though.