The Backs
Charles Louis Back was a Lithuanian immigrant to the Cape, who arrived in South Africa in 1902. He settled in Paarl where he set up a butcher shop as well as selling farm produce from the local farmers. Through these dealings he was offered a piece of land on the farm Klein Babylonstoren in the Paarl winelands. In 1916 Charles Back purchased what would later become the Backsberg farm from David Louw and left the butchery behind to become a wine farmer. Winemaking came naturally to him and in 1926 he was awarded the General Smuts Trophy for South Africa's champion wine. After establishing himself and learning the trade, Charles Back purchased Fairview from Hugo in 1937, for the sum of 6500 pounds. Charles Back had two sons, Sydney and Cyril, in whom Back instilled a love for the land, as well as a strong work ethic. When Charles died in 1955, he left Backsberg to Sydney and Fairview to Cyril.
Cyril, both strong-willed and hard working, spent much of his first years at Fairview replanting and planning vineyards. In 1974, Cyril daringly broke away from the KWV ; as a result, the first wines under the Fairview Estate label were bottled in this year. His wines were highly regarded, and he was seen as an innovator in a tightly regulated and controlled KWV industry. Fairview wines started receiving medals regularly at the country's premier venues, such as the Boberg Wine Show. In 1975, Cyril held South Africa's first public wine auction and, together with his wife, Beryl, began to recognise the farm's possibilities of public visitation. Fairview become one of the first farms to open cellar door sales to the public, with Cyril and Beryl being the company's cornerstone.
Cyril's son, Charles, joined Fairview in 1978, after completing his winemaking studies at Elsenburg agricultural college. In 1981, Charles built the Fairview goat tower; it would become a key part of Fairview's brand in future years. Charles introduced a number of new ideas and winemaking methods, quickly developing a distinctive reputation for innovation in the industry.
Read more about this topic: Fairview Wine And Cheese
Famous quotes containing the word backs:
“Good speech need not be behind other’s backs; speech behind other’s backs is not good.”
—Chinese proverb.
“The first man to discover Chinook salmon in the Columbia, caught 264 in a day and carried them across the river by walking on the backs of other fish. His greatest feat, however, was learning the Chinook jargon in 15 minutes from listening to salmon talk.”
—State of Oregon, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)