Avondale Wine

The picturesque 160-hectare farm that is today known as Avondale has been under cultivation for more than 300 years. Early records show that the land was one of the first in the Paarl Valley to be allocated specifically for the production of wine grapes. Avondale is now home to the Grieve Family and 25 farm worker families. As the pioneers of Vital Health Foods, South Africa’s leading health food company, the Grieves have an innate focus on well-being that encompasses the land and its community of people. Avondale are committed to providing fair and decent living and working conditions to enable their people to enjoy healthy, balanced lives.

With a rounded, rich nose of violets and peach, and just a hint of frangipan, Cyclus holds all the promise of a quality white blend. This is beautifully carried through to the palate where the intense flavours of pear, pineapple, apricot and fig are rounded off with smooth, subtle oak for a creamy, long-structured finish.

Ideal with shellfish like crab or lobster as well as pork in creamy sauces.

The grapes were harvested at 22˚ - 23˚ Balling, pressed as whole bunches and then naturally fermented in 500-litre oak barrels. 25% was fermented as whole bunches in Amphora and Qvevri which adds unique body, length and minerality to the wine. After fermentation the wine was kept on the lees for 12 months with regular battonage.

Awarded 96 points by Decanter, November 2023: '' There aren't many Roussanne- driven blends in the Cape, but this five-way blend (Viognier, Chenin, Chardonnay and Semillon are the others) suggests there maybe should be. An elliptical wine that starts with a bright point of citrus, broadens through flowers, greenage and lime, then tightens once more to a mineral, pebbly finish.''