Luna Tasting Calendar

The Biodynamic Planting Calendar was developed in the 1950’s by Maria Thun, a German biodynamic practitioner. Over the next half century she refined the planting calendar, which today is used throughout biodynamic agriculture.  The constellations within the Zodiac typically govern many aspects of biodynamic farming and Avondale believes that it also plays a role in how a wine is experienced on certain days, as wine is a living product that responds to the Zodiac’s rhythms in the ways that all organisms do.  According to the calendar, there are four specific cycles, namely Fruit, Root, Flower and Leaf. Avondale maintains that wine consumed in the period of a Root cycle, for instance, will taste different than when enjoyed in the Flower cycle.

Within the Luna Tasting Calendar, you will notice that the Zodiac consists of 12 constellations and each one of these constellations is assigned to an element (Air/Light; Earth; Fire/Warmth and Water) and to the celestial bodies. Each constellation is also divided into specific ‘types’ of day.

The Luna Tasting Calendar that has four types of day that relate to a lunar cycle, namely; Root, Fruit, Leaf and Flower.

Fruit tasting: The fruit notes are regarded as being more vibrant and even overpowering in some cases, with the wines appearing full-bodied and rich in character.

Leaf tasting: Wines are experienced to be less sweet, with a dominant, earthy minerality.

Root tasting: Wines tasted in the Root cycle appear more subdued than when consumed within the other cycles.

Flower tasting: The Flower cycle is generally regarded as the best tasting day overall for wine.

Avondale has been at the forefront of introducing and testing the Lunar Tasting Calendar in South Africa’s wine industry.  Here we make it possible for you to easily use the Luna Tasting Calendar yourself or follow us on Twitter @LunaCalendar for daily updates. Send us feedback of your experience to wine@avondalewine.co.za