Charles Back, of the Fairview winery, visited Portugal at the beginning of the 1980s to see how things were done there. Exploring the gardens of a winery, he was fascinated by a Goat Tower, and on his return he introduced the concept to South Africa.

The Goat Tower is both an ornamental feature in the gardens and an adventure playground for the goats, replacing their natural hilly habitat.

Soon after the tower was built, the very inquisitive (and discerning) goats spotted that a gate into the vineyard had been left accidentally ajar, and soon they were feasting on the finest grapes. The Back family took inspiration from this event and a new wine was born, Goats do Roam, leading to great media interest, and a sense of humour failure in some areas of the French wine industry.

The Fairview wine and cheese estate is close to Paarl, north-east of Cape Town, and is now as famed for its cheese as it for its wine. The Folly Flâneuse has enjoyed sampling both – all in the name of research of course.