When we did some research to find a winery to visit in the Okanagan Valley and chose the organic and biodynamic Summerhill Pyramid Winery (where they age wine in a pyramid), we expected to be greeted by a bunch of crunchy people. It was quite a shock to see tour buses and a very commercial place when we arrived... We soon found out that is was the biggest and most visited organic winery in Canada! About twenty minutes into the tour (so far a very typical winery tour where the biodynamic practices still hadn't been mentionned...), the guide led us into the pyramid, asking us to remain silent, take a seat, close our eyes, open our hearts and feel the energy of the place. Now we were talking!! The place was filled with cristals, goddess statues and a magic lamp... there were a copper pyramid inside the actual pyramid and an altar in the middle of the room with candles all around... When we asked what they were for, he said it was from their last full moon celebration! Groups of people come to meditate there too... Sounds like it benefits the wine since in a blind-tasting of 10 000 persons, 95% prefered the pyramid-aged wine!
Here's what they say about the effect of the pyramid on their website:
The knowingness of eternity awaits us in this sacred chamber. The word Py-ra-mid means "fire in the middle". We all have this fire in the middle. It is our hearts, our souls. We are mostly liquid and we are affected just like the wine is effected. The effect is clarification. If a wine has a flaw in it, the flaw is accentuated. If the wine has good qualities, they are enhanced. We humans are mostly liquid so when we enter this sacred chamber, it is a grand opportunity to clarify our own inner selves. This chamber helps us to get to the knowingness of who we are. We are electrical in nature, with impulses running from our brains through our spinal columns. We are receivers, we are conduits, and this chamber enhances our receptiveness, opening the left and right sides of our brains, much like the dolphins, whales, and elephants who are in touch with Essence, the all-one ‘soul of the world’.
Many experiments have been documented in replica pyramids. For instance, it is well established that rather than rotting, milk turns to yogurt, meat petrifies and razor blades will become sharper in the pyramid (this has been patented). A timed photography experiment, conducted outdoors in an open frame pyramid, revealed that a plant growing inside the pyramid grew in a clockwise motion, while a twin sister plant nearby but not in a pyramid grew "helter skelter".
We tasted six of their wines and, call us wine snobs, but we were not overly impressed. We liked the Cipes Brut (a sparkling white), cared for the sparkling rosé and really liked the Blanc de Noir, but really did not care for the Riesling, Syrah rose and Pinot Noir. The girls were given non-alchoolic cider in the same glasses as the other guests and it was the exact same color as the Riesling. You should have seen the look on people's face!! Honestly, our friends at Domaine Bergeville who produce 3 delicious sparkling wines (a white, a rosé and a red) have nothing to envy to them.
