Fried Chicken & Cremant? Norm from Flying Goat shares his pairing secrets

March 6, 2019

It’s true – Norm swears on his Sparkling Crémant as an excellent pairing with fried chicken! (This ‘secret’ works with most sparkling, but when the winemaker himself tells you to pair Colonel Sanders and Flying Goat, you should listen!)

So what’s the story behind the name Flying Goat?

While relaxing in his backyard sharing his newly bottled Central Coast Pinot Noir with friends and family, the question of what to name it kept coming up. As they sat with Pinot in hand, Norm’s pygmy goats playfully flew through the air, it became apparent that they were calling out to get some kind of recognition– Flying Goat Cellars was born. 

Norm’s career began in the steps of his college roommate, who discovered a winemaking program from the University of California at Davis. While Norm graduated with an unrelated degree, he found winemaking as his muse to transform, as he put it, “from a beer-drinking football player into a winemaker.”

Since UC Davis, Norm has left his signature on wines made from cool-climate vineyards, from Alexander & Napa valleys in Northern California, Willamette Valley in Oregon, to our local Central Coast. After being a highly recognized and respected winemaker for Foley and other wineries throughout his career, he now chooses to focus his energy on his own label which has always been about Pinot Noirs and Sparkling wines.

A tour of Central Coast Vineyards in a single Winery

In the spirit of his 38 years working the vines of cool climate vineyards, Flying Goat sources their grapes from the local sites with the longest ripening seasons, maximizing the quality of the crisp Pacific Ocean breeze. Flying Goat owns no vineyards, a specific style choice by Norm in the spirit of collaboration, trusting the esteemed producers he sources from to tend the soil and grapes that make their way to his bottles. Norm was one of the first winemakers to source Pinot Noir from the classic Santa Maria Valley AVA, Dierberg Vineyard almost two decades ago. Likewise, Flying Goat was one of the first “Rio Vista Vineyard” labeled wines back in 2003, and is the source of the famous ‘Clone 2a’ Pinot Noir, sourced from the far east lip of the Sta. Rita AVA.

Like so many of our local winemakers, Norm’s intent in winemaking is to make food-friendly pairings. He loves the Goat Bubbles Crémant paired with chicken, key lime pie, or a savory brunch. Both the Clone 2a Pinot Noir and the Dierberg Pinot Noir are great with Beef, mushrooms, and root vegetables.

When Norm is not tending to making his wine, he can be found working at the Flying Goat & Goat Bubbles tasting room in Lompoc, a not-to-be-missed stop on the Lompoc Wine Ghetto tour.