We are also one of the warmest nations of people in the World and have no qualms with becoming anyone’s best friend. This in turn should manifest itself at our wine estates, we should be offering the very best of the wine tasting experience. If in doubt on what a ‘wine tasting experience’ is, clear a day in the week and head to Fairview. That is one estate that, when the masses hit, proudly says ‘yeah, I got this.” Or when a one-on-one session is needed says “sure thing, we’ve got just the personal touch you need.” Fairview really doesn’t need much of an introduction. Neither does it need another South African relaying endless positive facts about its history and current status. So, I’m going to offer my original thoughts as a British citizen who, having never liked wine, arrived in South Africa back in 2010 and was taken to Fairview as my first wine tasting experience. My.mind.was.blown. It’s changed a bit now, but only for the better. The tasting room has that rare quality of being big enough to accommodate large numbers of people yet without losing that personal feel. Even if you were the only person drinking, you wouldn’t feel it. It’s homely, arty and warm. They have a standing tasting, R25 for essentially enough wine to make you feel like superman and enough cheese to make you feel like the man in the moon. For an even more detailed tasting, with designed cheese pairings, the Master tasting is wonderful. They change their master tasting twice a week...why? Because they want to express their favorites and the pairings that work the best and just because they can - they have a beautiful array of wines and cheeses. On knowledge, they are unmatched. On passion, forget it - you'd be hard-pressed to beat them. Ever tried to do a tasting at an estate and the staff don't even know what the wines taste like? Ya, it's miserable but at Fairview, they are right beside you, discovering the tastes with you. The wine.co.za team had the pleasure of being treated to a tasting and we can still see why they get so much traffic. They've got soul, they've got style and they know how to use it.