Such was the utopian Abbey of Thélème, a place dreamt up by French Renaissance writer François Rabelais, who was many things in his time, including a monk, a doctor, a writer, a satirist, a teller of dirty jokes and composer of bawdy songs and is to French culture what Shakespeare is to English. The Abbey of Thélème was built on the banks of the Loire by a giant named Gargantua. The abbey admitted both men and women (scandalous!) and encouraged them to live together in opulant luxury (some say they even had a swimming pool and maid’s service). There were no clocks or sundials, no schedules and certainly no laws of decorum to adhere to. Rabelais did include one cheeky detail of only allowing the fairest and sweetest of women and the most personable of men into the abbey, which leaves us with little doubt as to how the abbey’s residents actually filled their time. Pleasure and free will reigned supreme at Thélème. In a time of rigidity and religious hypocrisy, Thélème was a place that destroyed guilt and replaced it with knowledge and laughter. Hence Rabelais’ motto: laughing and drinking are the proper characteristics of man...for by wine we become divine.
Rabelais was intoxicated by life and wielded laughter, wine and dirty jokes as political weapons against the repressive status quo, earning himself a following throughout history. To be a Rabelaisian is to be bold, raunchy, totally outrageous and crude, but it ALSO means to be a seeker of knowledge and truth in the face of hypocrisy and popular opinion. To be a Rabelaisian is to be undeniably oneself.
With the promise of divinity, it’s no wonder that a fruit farm on the slopes of Helshoogte Pass (Afrikaans for Heights of Hell) in 1872 took the name from the abbey to become Thelema. We suspect a heavy dose of irony. Rabelais would have approved. From the time that the Webb family procured the farm in 1983, when Gyles Webb laid down his calculator and abandoned his accounting career in Durban after tasting some Burgundy Puligny-Montrachet, they have followed the Rabelaisian premise of self-examination and integrity in their winemaking style of minimal intervention and “benign neglect”.
Since its maiden 2007 vintage Thelema’s iconic red blend has gained recognition as one of Stellenbosch’s flagship Bordeaux-inspired wines. Representing the finest fruit selection and terroir expression the estate has to offer, where each grape undergoes careful selection, it’s easy to see why this Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot blend is Thelema’s flagship wine – and why the release of their 2014 vintage has been much anticipated, especially following 90+ ratings from Tim Atkin, Christian Eedes and Robert Parker for their previous 2013 vintage. Understanding the Rabelaisian way of timelessness, the 2014 vintage was held back after an 18 month oak maturation period, making this wine a splendid granter of instant gratification, as well as beautifully cellarable for the next 15 years.
We therefore encourage you to raise your glass and embrace the ideals of a Rabelaisian: of freedom, uniqueness, unlimited time and dreams. May you find truth at the bottom of your glass.
