From the golfing Goat’s mouth…
Fairview’s goats have long been legendary animals of the Cape Winelands, but what do we really know about these goats? Where did they come from, why do they roam, why are they so darn mischievous and why on earth have we named our world class Clubhouse Restaurant and Halfway House after them?? We had a chat to Fairview and Spice Route owner Charles Back to get to the bottom of the story….
“When my late father was first looking to bring goats to the farm, he wanted above all to make sure that he brought only the most interesting line he could possibly find. His research led him to a particularly obscure family of goats from Ethiopia”
“As the legend goes, in the 9th century, an Ethiopian goat herder was having trouble with the sleeping patterns of his goat herd. Although they were out all day and free to roam the grassy hills of the Ethiopian countryside, they returned during the evenings with more energy than before and kept him up all night! One day he decided to follow the herd. He discovered that the goats were eating berries from a specific bush and were uninterested in grazing on the grass. These berries turned out to be Arabica coffee beans and thus coffee as we know it today was born.”
“These coffee discovering goats became a hot commodity as it was said their years of ingesting coffee beans had changed the genetic makeup of their milk and gave it a distinct cappuccino-esque flavour. Before long the herd was disbanded and sold to slavers all across the Middle East whereafter descendants of these goats were spread all across the world. Notable descendants of the famed Ethiopian Coffee Goats include the Three Billy Goats Gruff of Norweigen Folklore; Nanny and Nanko who were Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America’s pair of goats, whom resided with him in the White House and our very own goats here at Fairview who’s escapades of running loose and eating grapes led to our famed Goats do Roam range of wines.”
“Lincoln’s goats were the first of the line to be introduced to America but by 2018 there were descendants in just about every state including Oregon where at the Silvies Valley Ranch and Golf Course, a goat named Bruce became the world’s first Goat Caddie. News of Bruce’s endeavours travelled fast via G(oat)Mail and soon the word had reached our herd at Fairview. Our goats were inspired by their distant cousin’s success, especially once they heard Bruce was receiving all the organic peanuts he could ever hope for after every 9 holes. They now dream of following in Bruce’s footsteps but have been met with much resistance. The local caddies feel threatened by the fact that these goats are willing to work for peanuts. This has brought about the formation of the Goat Caddie Union of South Africa who is leading the charge for integration in the caddie industry. A worthy cause I’m sure you’ll agree.”
“Whilst we await South Africa’s very first goat caddie, we’ve decided to honour the struggle these goats are facing by naming our restaurant and halfway house after these brave goats. Introducing the Golfing Goat. A place for good food, good drinks and having a laugh.”
“This story and many of the facts in this story are entirely fictional. No goats were harmed or sold into slavery in the making of this story”