Heading into the Chinese New Year of the Wooden Sheep

Chinese Year of the Wooden Sheep

According to chinesefortunecalendar.com, “…Sheep is one of Chinese favorite animals…2013 is Snake year; 2014 is Horse year. Both of them are in Fire group. 2015 is the last year of Fire cycle. Sheep is the animal on the farmland. Sheep is herbivore. It likes to eat grass. Therefore, in Chinese horoscopes, Sheep contains  Fire, Earth and Wood. Therefore, if Fire brought you luck in 2013 and 2014, then your luck in 2015 will continue…Sheep is one of Chinese lucky animals. Sheep doesn’t have to do the farm work. Instead, all the farmland jobs go to the Ox. Therefore, Ox doesn’t like Sheep. Sheep have freedom to look for any kind of grass. They never worry about running out of grass. They have mild personalities and are friendly to humans. Chinese treat Sheep as an auspicious animal…”

So success and/or luck will hopefully continue in many people’s future for this Chinese New Year, and maybe many people will do work for you.  Wine is a symbol that is found around success (e.g. Champagne or other sparkling wines).  Are there any wines that are related to the “sheep/ram/goat” theme for Chinese New Year?  Here is what I found.

Sheep/Ram/Goat Related Wines

BC Wineries

Haywire Lunar New Year White 2013 and Red 2012 – I believe this is the second year that Haywire has produced a wine specifically for the Chinese New Year.  The label shows a Chinese character for a sheep.  I wrote about these wines, and you can read about them here.  You can buy Haywire Lunar wines through Okanagan Crush Pad. If you are in Vancouver, I did a quick search and found the following stores carrying the Lunar wines:

Other Wineries from Around the World

Goats do Roam Red from South Africa – is a blend of Syrah, Cinsaut, Mourvèdre, Carignan, and Grenache. This wine is readily available in BC government liquor stores and Everything Wine. Check the BC government liquor store link here.  This wine stirred up controversy when it first came out as “Goats do Roam” sounds like “Côtes du Rhône”, and the Rhone wineries felt like it was an infringement on their name.  There also another wine they produce called “Goats In Villages Shiraz Pinotage” but it is not available in BC.  If you are in Ontario, you can get it through the LCBO.

Ram’s Leap Shiraz from Australia – I checked online and Everything Wine carries this wine.

The following 3 wineries are in the USA, and if you wanted them here in BC, it would need to be a special order, or maybe you can find them in a liquor store in Washington state.

Black Sheep Winery in California produces Zinfandels and Rhone varieties.

Black Sheep Vineyard in Ohio makes a variety of red and white wines.

Black Sheep Finds in Santa Barbara, California produces red Bordeaux, Syrah, Pinot Noir and white wines. Organically grown grapes.

Enjoy Chinese New Year and be full of luck.