...a bottle of wine and thou

Goats do Roam Red 2002

Price: $9 bottle or $4/glass
Type: red blend
Cork: plain jane artificial
Rating: 9

I first had Goats do Roam at the late Abyssinia restaurant here in Louisville. When I saw it at our local Liquor Barn, I had to pick up a bottle.

As you can tell from the rating, this is a wine I really enjoy. It goes beautifully with spicy foods, such as Ethiopian or Indian. The full aroma wafts out as soon as you open the bottle. You can tell from the scent this is going to be a tasty wine.

It rolls smoothly along the tongue, a medium bodied wine that isn't too drying. I'd say it has a distinctly spicy finish, which is probably why it pairs so well with spicy foods. There's a generic fruitiness to it I can't quite pin down. Not cherries, not blackberries - more a Minute Maid Fruit Punch idealized vision of "fruitiness."

There's a slight bitter bite at the end, but unlike many wines which finish bitter, I think in this case it adds a pleasant kick to the spicy finish.

Goats do Roam Red is a blend of Pinotage, Shiraz, Cinsault, Grenache, Gamay Noir, and Carignan. With the notable exception of Shiraz, I've never heard of these grapes. I'm very glad the people at Charles Back wineries have, though. This is a tasty wine I'll definitely want on the table the next time I'm making spicy food.

posted by Chris Rachael Oseland at 8:36 PM