Pandiculation. There’s a word that will send you searching. Let’s face it. Few among us know its meaning. Yet there it is. Commanding attention on a wine label in big, bold type. Broken into four lines as if segmentation will aid comprehension.
The intellectual and curious mind demands a definition for the word. Mercifully, it can be found on the front label. Pandiculation. noun • [pan-dik-yuh-ley-shuh-n] Def: lazy stretching (after a sound sleep). Who knew this action was accorded it’s own unit of language?
Pandiculation is part of a series from South Africa’s Rascallion Wines. “The Word Collection takes inspiration from the Rascal’s love of literature and languages, having lived and worked in a number of different countries around the world. No matter which language you speak or where you are in the world, we hope you enjoy this wine…”. Other titles you’ll likely have to look up include Aquiver, Susurrous, and Bombinate. I love the type treatment for Pandiculation. Each of the others are equally creative and all different.
The format of the label also deserves praise. It wraps about two-thirds around the bottle allowing for front and side panels left and right. In this case the information on the side panels runs vertically. I recommend a three-quarters or nearly complete wrap of a single label for effective information display.
This label permits discussion of another common issue in international wine marketing—differences in information regulation. This wine came with a sticker that covered the original required information panel. You might be able to see it on the full bottle shot on the right side. Fortunately, I was able to remove it cleanly and reshoot the rotation video.
The wine is mainly Shiraz with a bit of Grenache. It is well-balanced, has good body but isn’t heavy. Critics very on fruit flavour assessments. For me, raspberry and pomegranate. I’m not sure how the wine relates to pandiculation unless one casually stretches for a second glass.
