Many years ago when I owned a weekly wine page in the Slimes, the Wine Lizard proposed a wine club to the publishers. Which was shot down in short order when they saw through his inevitable conflicts of interest. But the editor was taken with the idea of the dialogue of an expert with a neophyte. Not that Lizzie is much of an expert in anything except self promotion, so that crashed and burned.
My own academic credentials lay gathering dust until I tasted the Cyclus last month. What an academic wine and I’m not talking Toxic Tim firing off emails from the UCT server to bully producers. Well at least its better than flinging poo, the usual UCT way of debate, but what a box is our Tim. I wrote about the Cyclus in The Times today and it has nothing to do with neoprene nitwits from Klein Constantia, either.
A golden ratio to savour
How much and where? R268; www.avondalewine.co.za
Why? Seeds are packed on the head of a sunflower according to the golden ratio as it’s the most efficient way of doing so. Either proof of the existence of God or evolution in action, depending on your faith. Golden ratios occur in the swirl of a seashell or the fluid dynamics of water draining from a sink. They are captured in the vortex on the label of this white blend which is a liquid golden ratio. There are five grapes in the blend and the ratio of chardonnay to viognier and semillon to roussanne is a golden one and then comes the chenin blanc to hold it all together.
It’s the kind of recipe to make an ancient Greek dance naked in the streets or one that could win the Pritzker prize for architecture. If you like cryptic crossword puzzles and enjoyed reading The Da Vinci Code, then this is the wine for you. It’s a mind- game in a bottle. Made according to biodynamic principles, when Avondale owner Johnathan Grieve presents a tasting, he dowses your aura with his pocket aerial. Then he tells you that hydrogen adds intelligence to water, it being the H in H2O. Whatever.
I did a vertical tasting of Cyclus from 2013 back to 2009 and the older the wines, the younger they tasted. But then biodynamic wines are always unexpected. If you are in tune with your aura, this wine is on your wavelength. Tired of sauvignon blanc and want to walk on the wild side? Try a bottle with the vegan curry at Societi Bistro with optional roast chicken.
Rating: ****
***** Pi
**** e
*** Euler-Mascheroni constant
** i
* Aleph_0
