2018 marks the 20th vintage of Goats Do Roam. Have you ever heard the tale of how the brand came to be?

The idea of Goats do Roam first came about in the late 1990′s during a casual conversation between Fairview owner Charles Back and his UK importer at the time. Charles was looking to launch a blended wine within the Fairview range comprising farm’s key varietal, Shiraz and others such as Grenache and Carignan. After regaling the tale of his son’s antics with the goats from the Fairview tower, and chatting about the herd that roams around the Fairview property (and a few glasses of wine no doubt) the name ‘Goats do Roam’ popped up and the rest is history.

When Charles Back and his team first decided to go ahead with the Goats do Roam wines he was adamant about one thing – he did not want to sell wine based purely on the name and the label. He wanted people to buy the Goats do Roam wines again after they tasted them for the first time and to do that he needed to make sure that what was in the bottle got the consumers’ attention as much as what was on it. In fact, he really needed to (and continues to need to) over-deliver, as many viewed the ‘Goats’ as trying to sell wine based on the attention that the labels received. There are many wines with better looking labels that have come and gone in the time that ‘Goats’ has been around…

Charles Back says:

“When we had the idea to produce this wine we were in a little bit of a rush to get the label finalised. We had spoken to our UK importer and they were very keen to have the wine on their shelves. Anthony Lane designed the label but when it came back from the printer the colour was nothing like what was planned. But time was pressing so we had to send the order and the rather garish yellow has become characteristic!”

Goats do Roam was launched before the critter craze really hit the market and may be seen as one of the brands that pioneered this trend, but Back doesn’t really view the Goats as critter labels.  A lot of thought goes into the labels and there is a story attached to each.  They are more than just quirky illustrations.

The Goats do Roam wines first hit the UK scene in late 1999, selling in retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Somerfield, Majestic and many others, for a number of years. However, as the supermarket wine retail environment changed, Charles Back felt that this was no longer the appropriate channel for the Goats do Roam brand and he made the bold decision to pull his wines from the UK supermarket shelves. At the same time he had been focusing energy on the ‘emerging’ US market, after launching the ’99 vintage Goats do Roam Red there in 2001. The brand was well received in the USA, quickly becoming the top selling South African wine brand in the country, which Back flippantly writes off to “a big piece of a small pie” (South African wine accounts for around 2% of wine sold in the USA). This achievement has also assisted in attracting attention to the South African wines category.

The Goats were given a shot in the arm in August 2003 when the brand received coverage on CNN and BBC following a demonstration at the French embassy in Cape Town. The French had objected to the registration of ‘Goats do Roam’ in the US, saying that it was a direct play on the French appellation Côtes du Rhône. This was dismissed by Charles at the time as pure coincidence, alluding to the farm’s roaming herd of some 700 goats. A large group of placard-waving employees demonstrated in Cape Town, culminating in the presentation of a magnum of Goats do Roam Red and a rather symbolic bag of goat manure, labelled ‘Goats do Poo’! The exposure kick-started the brand in the USA and the threats of litigation fell silent.

Over the last twenty years, our vineyard plantings have matured to an extent that allows us to constantly improve the quality of fruit that is used in our Goats do Roam wines, and we look forward to continue to do so.

The post 20 Years of Goats Do Roam! appeared first on Fairview.

But don’t despair! We’re incredibly proud to introduce our Broken Barrel #2!  Inspired by Portugal, this bold red is a blend of Portuguese varieties Tinta Roriz and Souzão.  This second Broken Barrel batch tells the intriguing tale of two bold and juicy Portuguese varieties. The dark rich flavours of Souzão balanced with the nobility of Tinta Roriz bind together to produce a beautifully unique wine, exclusively blended for our cellar door.

This unique blend made from two esoteric Portuguese grape varieties is sourced from trellised vineyards on the slopes of Paarl Mountain, where it grows on decomposed granite soils. The Souzão is picked from dryland bushvines in the Swartland wine region. Here, the vines grow on Koffieklip (ferricrete) soils. The winemaking process included destemming the grapes, crushing and fermenting them separately in open top wooden foudres. Pump overs and punch downs (pigeage) were done 3-4 times per day during fermentation to extract flavour, colour and tannins from the berries. Finally, the wine was basket-pressed and matured in barrels for 24 months. A combination of French and American 225L oak barrels were used of which 20% were new, first fill oak barrels.

The vibrant label takes cues from Charles Back’s travels in Portugal, where he was inspired by the Azulejo ceramic tiles, colourful heritage and of course, the rich culture of wine. Broken Barrel #2 is instantly seductive, with notes of blackcurrants, cinnamon and marzipan. The 2015 blend of Tinta Roriz and Souzão contribute to its ripe, integrated tannins, sharing a medium to full-bodied palate brimming with savoury spice and dark fruits. Drink now or age up to 8 years. A great match for all manner of meat and Italian, tomato- based dished.

This time around, we’ve limited our batch to a smaller, yet equally collectable quantity of wines. And here’s the best part – Broken Barrel is exclusive to our Fairview family, and only available from our Online Shop or Tasting Room.

So hurry, because you’re the first to know about it.

The post It’s Here: Broken Barrel #2 Now Available! appeared first on Fairview.

On the 1st August 2017, the second annual Winemag Signature Red Blend Report Awards was held at Villa 47 in Cape Town, with our Fairview Extraño making us proud yet again, winning a 90 point rating by the judging panel. Fairview Winemaker Stephanie Wiid went along to receive the award with open arms.

For this year’s competition, 82 entries were received from 62 producers. These were tasted blind (labels out of sight) by the three-person panel consisting of Christian Eedes, Roland Peens and James Pietersen, scoring done according to the 100-point quality scale. The event called for wines which were “distinctive of their originators” and instead of the usual practice of dividing them into various sub-groups according to style, the judges tasted them as one continuous line-up – the thinking being that the fundamentals of wine appreciation such as complexity and balance should apply when it came to making quality assessments.

This new way of thinking is exactly in line with what Fairview’s Charles Back has always endeavoured to do – planting varieties best suited to our climate and soils – and we are so exalted to be reaping the results of those rather against-the-grain earlier decisions. Made up of a rather unusual Spanish blend of Tempranillo, Grenache and Carignan, our Extraño (meaning stranger in Spanish) is no doubt a bit of a surprise when compared to it’s more traditionally favoured counterparts of Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. But Extraño has really come into its own this year, winning a spot in the Top 100 2017 competition, a bronze in the Wine Label Design Awards 2017 and now a 90 score for the Winemag Signature Red Blend Report. You shouldn’t mind talking to this stranger! Available online for R100. Buy here.

The post Extraño | Our Winner at Winemag Signature Red Blend 2017 appeared first on Fairview.