The Goat Man's Overtime
TASTING NOTES: “Color: Deep and vibrant black cherry. Nose: Bright, deep, full, generous, elegant and complex with notes of blackberries, dry herbs, savory notes like black olives and delicate French oak. Mouthfeel: Generous entrance leading to juicy mid-palate, full-bodied, solid structure, offering sweet spices, cocoa powder, blackberries, silky tannins, great balance and fresh long finish.” (AbV 14.5%, pH 3.70)
VARIETALS: 30% Tannat, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma & Napa), 15% Cabernet Franc, 15% Merlot, 10% Petite Sirah
BARRELS: 20 months in French oak, 25% new.
PAIRS WITH: Meat lasagna, pork chop, a steaming bowl of chili, meatloaf, eggplant parmesan or a juicy hamburger.
THAT REMINDS ME OF: Butcher.
Weird thing about that word: it didn’t always mean “person who cuts up any old meat.” It comes from Old French bouchier , which comes from bouc — meaning specifically “billy goat.” A butcher, etymologically, is a goat guy. The job description ballooned over the centuries to cover beef, pork, whatever’s on the hook, but the name never got the memo and just kept riding on that original, oddly specific mandate.
I love this because it’s the linguistic equivalent of someone getting promoted way beyond their original job title and nobody bothering to update the business card. Somewhere in medieval France there was a dude whose entire professional identity was “the goat man,” and that guy’s job title is still doing unpaid overtime a thousand years later on butcher shops that have never once sold you a goat chop.
And then, completely separately, English took the noun and turned it into a verb meaning “to ruin something through incompetence” — “he butchered that solo,” “don’t butcher the recipe” — which feels like a real vote of no confidence from a language that otherwise seems fine with butchers.
PRODUCER PODCAST: Y. Rousseau. Son of a Butcher Red Blend (2:24)
ICYMI, you have two choices:
Worried Summer heat might get to your wine before your wine gets to you? Order from the sale linked here, and we’ll get it to you at a cooler time of year !
Want it shipped now? Every package during the summer will have protected temp control ground shipping for much of the country that takes longer but will ensure safe delivery. Expect up to two weeks for delivery. Now through the September 12th offer.
