Cape White Blend “Rocking Horse” 2022 – Thorne & Daughters

The grapes to produce the Cape White Blend “Rocking Horse” Thorne & Daughters, were whole bunch pressed in an old Vaslin press, which ensures an oxidative pressing and yields a very clear juice. The juice was left to settle overnight then racked off the heavy solids and transferred to old French oak barrels ranging in size from 225 litres to 600 litres. Fermentation occurred naturally in barrel and the wines were then allowed to undergo spontaneous malolactic fermentation. Sulphur dioxide was first added in August following the vintage when the wines had had time to settle. The Rocking Horse spent 10 months on its fine lees after fermentation, prior to blending and bottling.

The grapes for the “Rocking Horse” were sourced from a number of very carefully selected growers around the Western Cape. The Roussanne and the Chardonnay come from younger trellised vines, with an average age of 14 years planted in Stellenbosch and Paardeberg mountain on a combination of clay and decomposed granite. Semillon Blanc from Franschhoek, Clairette Blanche from Stellenbosch and Chenin Blanc from Paardeberg add depth and textural complexity to this Cape white blend as they are sourced from old, low-yielding bush vines estimated to be approximately 40 years old.

Thorne & Daughters was started in 2013 by John and Tasha Seccombe with the aim of producing authentic wines from the Western Cape. It is widely acknowledged to be one of the forerunners of the ‘New Wave’ wine movement in South Africa. Thorne & Daughters is mainly focused on producing Cape white blends, from 15 different growers in Bot River, Stellenbosch, Voor Paardeberg, Swartland, Citrusdal, Franschhoek and Overberg. Fruit sourcing has relied on a network of close winemaking friends and knocking on doors to gather the various parcels with which they work. John and Tasha did not want to be limited geographically, so the net was cast wide and has been driven by “a happy synergy of people, place, soil and vines”.