Cape Crusaders
South Africa’s shiraz shows the Côtes du Rhône a thing or two about wine
Image credit: Brian Rea
South Africa’s very good Goats do Roam is more than a clever send-up of the Côtes du Rhône. The name certainly got the goat of the French, who launched (and lost) a legal bid to quash it. But the real issue might be how South Africa is beating the Rhône Valley at its own game, turning out shiraz-based blends that rival the best of France’s syrahs (same grape, different spelling), and at much lower prices. In such legendary northern Rhône appellations as Hermitage, Côte Rôtie and Cornas, syrah creates black wines with intriguing, complex smoked-meat, pepper and olive brine character—very Mediterranean, very French. Yet this is exactly what South Africa is delivering, too, with more fruit ripeness, more textural flesh and alcohol power. Though South Africa came relatively late to syrah, its versions are less ingratiating than Australia’s; they’re ideal for wine lovers in search of exceptions to the growing, jammy homogeny of red wine. The Cape’s shirazes also better match hearty winter foods—the smoky, dense $9 Obikwa 2006 Shiraz, for example. Goats Do Roam and its growing herd of namesake labels—now including Goats Do Roam in Villages and Goat-Roti—are still the most fun of the bunch. But the spectrum widens with Vintages’ release of another handful of South African shirazes, including the Delheim 2003.
TEST Originally published February 2007
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