Like many winery owners and winemakers, Fairview Cellars owner Bill Eggert loves bottling day. It’s an exciting time with lots of activity around the winery. It’s also when all of the hard work from the vineyard can finally be shared with everyone. Bill’s assembled troops were busy bottling the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc while hopping along to a classic rock soundtrack on the stereo.
Fairview’s Sauvignon Blanc has become the darling of the portfolio, slowly developing its own cult-like following among those who enjoy this vibrant variety. A supremely-crafted wine, it is a perfect match for seafood but is also equally at home as a sipping wine. This will be the function for the 2015 vintage in particular as the long and hot growing season has made for a beautifully ripe and full-flavoured version of this wine. It is still the crisp and refreshing wine that it was in previous vintages, but with a newly profound depth of flavour.
Variations over the vintages are what keeps wine interesting and Bill is not afraid to experiment with tradition.
2014 Gusto Bianco
Sauvignon Blanc was fermented using a different kind of yeast to arrive at another different style of wine. Complex aromas of ripe ambrosia apples, lemon meringue, dried flowers, and wet minerals mark this wine currently and it finishes off-dry which gives it a unique sense of smoothness. In the 10 months since I first tasted this wine, it has evolved slowly from overtly fruity to take on more mineral and floral notes. No doubt it will continue to evolve beautifully over time.
~ Luke Whittall
(PICTURED Bottling Day At Fairview)