in the vineyard : Michele Agostinelli was born in 1911 into a farming community in the mountains of Southern Italy. In 1940, whilst serving in the Italian Army in North America, he was captured, spending the remaining war years as one of the tens of thousands of Italian prisoner of war in South Africa. Signor Agostinelli's agrarian background served him well, as he was appointed to oversee a contingent of POW workers on a number of Cape farms. After the war, he settled in South Africa, managing vineyards, and producing cheese as a sideline for the Italian community of Cape Town. With the acquisition of our first herd of Goats in the early 1980's, my late father Cyril asked Signor Agostinelli to help start our farm cheesery. He set about this task with great enthusiasm. With his squat figure seemingly held together by a huge set of braces, he toiled stirring the warmed curds for these hand-made Fairview cheese. He would be very proud of our recent achievements at international cheese competitions where Fairview has won a number of trophies.
in the cellar : Oenological Treatment: The grapes were gently crushed and destalked. Fermented in stainless steel tanks, malolactic fermentation in barrels. Daily punching down (twice) during fermentation. The wine matured in 2nd & 3rd fill French oak barrels for 10 months prior to bottling.