Cheap Wine That Doesn't Suck

Three of the iconic white wine grapes in France's Goats Do Roam region are Viognier, Grenache Blanc, and Roussanne. Uh, actually, that would be Cotes du Rhone, but to a South African vintner with a sense of humor (and an apparent affection for mondegreens), it would be a cool thing...

By Bill Citara

October 26, 2009

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Three of the iconic white wine grapes in France's Goats Do Roam region are Viognier, Grenache Blanc, and Roussanne. Uh, actually, that would be Cotes du Rhone, but to a South African vintner with a sense of humor (and an apparent affection for mondegreens), it would be a cool thing to tweak the stuffy French wine world and give wine drinkers a giggle by naming his line of Rhone-style wines after the goats that do, in fact, roam on his Western Cape estate.

So Charles Back created Goats Do Roam red, white, and rosé, remarkably good and inexpensive wines, all blends of as many as half a dozen different varietals. The 2009 Goats white is a virtual steal at around eight bucks a bottle. It's got that smoky/minerally French thing going on in the nose, along with some tropical fruit, ripe pear, and melon. Get it in your mouth and it's rich and lush, with plenty of ripe fruit that's balanced by pronounced acidity and a finish that tastes like a mixed squeeze of lemon and lime.

Not only do these goats roam, they rock.

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