WTN: Goats Do Roam

Short notes from last week's tasting of varoius Goats Do Roam samples for possible importation by Zen Asia.

Goats do Roam White 2007 - Gentle flavor. Not much going on here. Inoffensive and boring.

Goats do Roam in Villages White 2006 - Nice nose. Crisp. A bit more character than the regular Goats do Roam but still, I'm unconvinced by this.

Goat Door 2006 - Chardonnay. Very nice. Silky.

Goats do Roam Red 2006 - Very fruity. Easy to drink. Not a bad quaffer.

Goats do Roam in Villages Red 2006 - Like the regular Goats do Roam red but with more body.

The Goatfather 2005 - Barbera, Mourvedre, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Primitivo and Nebbiolo. A bit of a stretch on the pun but this was excellent. Very vibrant. I thought this was the best wine of the range.

Bored Doe 2005 - Bordeaux blend of 5 grapes. Unbalanced. High acidity. Yuck.

Goat Roti 2006 - Shiraz/Viognier. Rich. Well-balanced. Quite dry. Very good. My favorite after the Goatfather.

There were a lot of other bottles from other South African producers for tasting but I only tried two others:

Cape Point Stonehaven Sauvignon Blanc 2007 - Lots of green pepper and acidity. No ripe guava here.

Meerlust Merlot 2001 - Powerful stuff. Young and tannic. Try again in a few years.

Fairview is a great company, and this second label is now the best selling SA wine in the US. Oddly, I ran into at article that said it was the best selling red box wine in Norway! I found an address on their website of their US rep, a cousin of Charles Back, the owner, and sent him an e-mail to see if they had any plans to sell bag-in-a-box Goats do Roam here. He said they are test marketing in Oklahoma, of all places. What do Okies and Vikings have in common? The Rose is quite nice if you lkie blush wines, and your other notes were right in tune with my impressions. Love the Goatfather! The Fairview Pinotage, by the way, is beautiful... old vine, slowly made. Yummy.