The new vintage 2021 Thorne & Daughters wines from John Seccombe are ready to be released.
John and Tasha Seccombe have drawn on the great history of wine growing here in the Cape, putting together old vineyard parcels with new grape cultivars, and making wines with old-school simplicity and a modern ‘edge’.
It has been such a privilege and a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with the Thorne & Daughters wines from the maiden vintage 2013. The wines have continually improved over the years. John has refined his decisions and techniques as he has worked more with each vineyard parcel. It is especially gratifying to see Rocking Horse become one of the key white wines of modern South Africa.
Sadly the wines are extremely limited in supply. For the first time, we have more than a handful of the Old Vine Chenin Blanc, Cat’s Cradle.
The winemaking remains simple. Our primary challenge during the harvest is to ensure that we pick all of our far-flung blocks at the right time and get them back to the winery in perfect condition. Once this is achieved, we revert to working with very little in the way of ‘winemaking technique’.
— John Seccombe
Vintage 2021
Vintage 2021 in South Africa was a very good one both for quality and quantity. Cooler weather in the ripening period allowed a later harvest than what is normal. This gave phenolic ripeness to the grapes without boosting sugars too much. The end result are wines of fruit weight, but moderate alcohols, and balanced acids and tannin.
John on vintage 2021: “Very much a cooler, wetter season, with average yields overall. We luckily avoided any heatwaves which are pretty standard in January and February, leaving us a lot of time to decide when to pick the grapes at optimal ripeness”.
Thorne & Daughters 'Rocking Horse' Cape White 2021
WO Western Cape John Seccombe: Rocking Horse is our cornerstone wine and takes its name from a wooden rocking horse that we made for our daughters out of old oak barrel staves. This is our signature wine and it is where all our work comes together to make our most complete wine.
The wine is composed from a number of carefully selected vineyard sites in the Western Cape. A layered and complex nose reveals golden kiwi fruit, mace, apple skin and shy florals, leading into a rounded, rich palate of honeyed nougat with a long taut, slightly saline finish. Christian Eedes: Sensational aromatics of green, white and yellow fruit, flowers, herbs and spice plus a touch of flinty reduction – very expressive but not at all vulgar or overwrought. The palate has great fruit definition, a lovely line of acidity and finish that is long and dry. Precisely made, the whole very much more than the sum of the parts. 97/100.
Thorne & Daughters 'Cat's Cradle' Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2021
WO Swartland John Seccombe: Langkloof, where we source our grapes for this wine, is an old bush vine Chenin blanc vineyard planted on the granite slopes of the Paardeberg that belongs to the Roussouw family.
An enormous amount of work goes into the vineyard during the growing season to ensure that the vineyard can carry a healthy and balanced crop. Picking is done with a clear eye on the acidity of the crop which can fall away dramatically during the harvest due to the paucity of these granite based soils.
The wine shows aromas of lemon balm, apple blossom, exotic waxes and honey. A textured palate is lifted by bright acidity and a wet stone freshness with a long finish. Christian Eedes: The nose shows lime and white peach but also some intriguing oxidative notes including some bruised apple, nuts and spice. The palate has a dense core of fruit and snappy acidity – it comes across as quite tense and reticent now but should drink beautifully in two to five years’ time. 94/100.
Thorne & Daughters 'Paper Kite' Old Vine Semillon 2021
WO Swartland John Seccombe: One of the key heritage varietals in South Africa is Semillon, a grape variety that the modern wine industry was practically built on, but which now finds itself as a small presence in the viticultural landscape here. There are still a number of incredible, old Semillon vineyards in existence and we have been fortunate enough to work with some of them.
Paper Kite is our expression of old vine South African Semillon, and it is sourced from a 58 year-old vineyard in Swartland. These old clones of Semillon (including a tiny amount of Semillon gris dotted about the vineyards) deliver an expression of Semillon that is very much at odds with the modern, aromatic clones. The wines they produce are hauntingly beautiful and difficult to define.
The grapes were pressed gently in an old basket press and fermented with wild yeasts in old oak barrels.The wine shows savoury aromas of ginger, soft yellow fruit and wood spice. The palate is full and rounded with almond flesh and yellow melon notes and a finish of cape gooseberry. Christian Eedes: From a 1963 Swartland vineyard. A change in winemaking saw the wine spend three months in new 500-litre barrels from Austrian cooperage Stockinger done to offset the variety’s natural propensity to become reductive – it has certainly added the wine a little more polish. The nose shows peach, naartjie, hay and a hint of waxiness while the palate is relatively rich and thick textured with nicely integrated acidity, the finish long and intensely savoury. 93/100.
WO Citrusdal Mountain John Seccombe: Snakes and Ladders’ name takes its inspiration from the wild nature of these elevated bush vine vineyards high up in the mountains, along with the highs and lows of farming these incredible parcels in such a challenging climate. It is this heat and water scarcity that keeps the roots of these vines searching for every ounce of nutrients they can extract from their deep red soils.
The wine that comes from these pristine grapes is deeply complex and we vinify it as simply as we can from whole bunch pressing the grapes to months of cool maturation in old oak barrels. Crushed blackcurrant leaf, opulent exotic fruit and smokey mineral notes form an intensely complex nose. The palate is rich and structured with green mango, sourdough, earth and ripe fig cut by saline acidity. Christian Eedes: From Skurfberg Sauvignon Blanc. Spontaneously fermented and matured for approximately nine months in old oak. Exotic aromatics of elderflower, citrus, peach, granadilla and pineapple plus some leesy complexity. “We try to beat it down but it won’t quit,” says Seccombe. The palate has pure fruit and racy acidity before a dry finish. Good weight as you might expect. 92/100.
WO Swartland John Seccombe: Tin Soldier is a skin-fermented wine made from Semillon gris, which is almost unique to South Africa, and a vestige of a time when Semillon was the grape on which the South African wine industry was built. The vineyard has been established from a sélection massale of Semillon gris cuttings taken from an adjacent vineyard of Semillon that was planted in 1964.
The colour of the wine is unusual, having taken some bright copper tones from about a week’s fermentation on skins. We continually aim to improve on our winemaking, and patience at picking time has allowed us to pick wines just that little bit riper and more complex without losing the elegance that this vineyard produces.
The interplay between savoury and sweet is a key point of interest in Tin Soldier, and makes for a subtle and engaging wine. The wine shows aromas of crushed rooibos leaves, warm toast and ruby grapefruit. The palate is rich, textured and long with spiced apple and loose leaf tea. Christian Eedes: From Swartland Semillon Gris, 50% fermented on the skins for one week. Complex aromatics of potpourri, citrus, peach, some nuttiness and spice. The palate shows great fruit depth matched by tangy acidity, the finish gently savoury. A wine full of captivating detail. 95/100.
Thorne & Daughters 'Wanderer's Heart' Cape Red 2021
WO Western Cape John Seccombe: The Wanderer’s Heart is our Cape Red – a wine that is built around the incredible vineyards found all over the Western Cape. Over the past few years, we have slowly dialled up the Syrah component in this wine to take advantage of these wonderful dark, peppery wines that compliment the other components so well. The wine is focused, with mulberries, black olive flesh and cedar wood on the nose. The tannins are supple and integrated into a fresh palate of cranberries and woody spices. Christian Eedes: Striking aromatics of red berries, olive, fynbos, pepper and spice while the palate is light-bodied but intensely flavoured – pure fruit, snappy acidity and powdery tannins. Great energy and an especially dry finish. 92/100.
Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan
Thorne & Daughters 'Menagerie' Chardonnay 2020
WO Piekenierskloof & Ceres Plateau
The new Menagerie label is the home of small production wines, many of them one-offs, by John and his winery team. This Chardonnay will be a regular feature. A blend of two high altitude sites from Piekenierskloof and Ceres Plateau that bring vastly different characters to the final wine. Whole-bunch pressed into old oak for ferment, this wine is pure and expressive, without being too sculptured. Really lovely if limited.
Thorne & Daughters Vintage 2021
THORNE & DAUGHTERS
Vintage 2021
The new vintage 2021 Thorne & Daughters wines from John Seccombe are ready to be released.
John and Tasha Seccombe have drawn on the great history of wine growing here in the Cape, putting together old vineyard parcels with new grape cultivars, and making wines with old-school simplicity and a modern ‘edge’.
It has been such a privilege and a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with the Thorne & Daughters wines from the maiden vintage 2013. The wines have continually improved over the years. John has refined his decisions and techniques as he has worked more with each vineyard parcel. It is especially gratifying to see Rocking Horse become one of the key white wines of modern South Africa.
Sadly the wines are extremely limited in supply. For the first time, we have more than a handful of the Old Vine Chenin Blanc, Cat’s Cradle.
The winemaking remains simple. Our primary challenge during the harvest is to ensure that we pick all of our far-flung blocks at the right time and get them back to the winery in perfect condition. Once this is achieved, we revert to working with very little in the way of ‘winemaking technique’.
— John Seccombe
Vintage 2021
Vintage 2021 in South Africa was a very good one both for quality and quantity. Cooler weather in the ripening period allowed a later harvest than what is normal. This gave phenolic ripeness to the grapes without boosting sugars too much. The end result are wines of fruit weight, but moderate alcohols, and balanced acids and tannin.
John on vintage 2021: “Very much a cooler, wetter season, with average yields overall. We luckily avoided any heatwaves which are pretty standard in January and February, leaving us a lot of time to decide when to pick the grapes at optimal ripeness”.
Vintage 2021 Thorne & Daughters wines
Thorne & Daughters ‘Wanderer’s Heart’ Cape Red 2021
R305.00Vintage 2020 Thorne & Daughters wines
Thorne & Daughters 'Rocking Horse' Cape White 2021
WO Western Cape
John Seccombe: Rocking Horse is our cornerstone wine and takes its name from a wooden rocking horse that we made for our daughters out of old oak barrel staves. This is our signature wine and it is where all our work comes together to make our most complete wine.
The wine is composed from a number of carefully selected vineyard sites in the Western Cape. A layered and complex nose reveals golden kiwi fruit, mace, apple skin and shy florals, leading into a rounded, rich palate of honeyed nougat with a long taut, slightly saline finish.
Christian Eedes: Sensational aromatics of green, white and yellow fruit, flowers, herbs and spice plus a touch of flinty reduction – very expressive but not at all vulgar or overwrought. The palate has great fruit definition, a lovely line of acidity and finish that is long and dry. Precisely made, the whole very much more than the sum of the parts. 97/100.
Roussanne, Semillon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Clairette Blanche
Thorne & Daughters 'Cat's Cradle' Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2021
WO Swartland
John Seccombe: Langkloof, where we source our grapes for this wine, is an old bush vine Chenin blanc vineyard planted on the granite slopes of the Paardeberg that belongs to the Roussouw family.
An enormous amount of work goes into the vineyard during the growing season to ensure that the vineyard can carry a healthy and balanced crop. Picking is done with a clear eye on the acidity of the crop which can fall away dramatically during the harvest due to the paucity of these granite based soils.
The wine shows aromas of lemon balm, apple blossom, exotic waxes and honey. A textured palate is lifted by bright acidity and a wet stone freshness with a long finish.
Christian Eedes: The nose shows lime and white peach but also some intriguing oxidative notes including some bruised apple, nuts and spice. The palate has a dense core of fruit and snappy acidity – it comes across as quite tense and reticent now but should drink beautifully in two to five years’ time. 94/100.
Thorne & Daughters 'Paper Kite' Old Vine Semillon 2021
WO Swartland
John Seccombe: One of the key heritage varietals in South Africa is Semillon, a grape variety that the modern wine industry was practically built on, but which now finds itself as a small presence in the viticultural landscape here. There are still a number of incredible, old Semillon vineyards in existence and we have been fortunate enough to work with some of them.
Paper Kite is our expression of old vine South African Semillon, and it is sourced from a 58 year-old vineyard in Swartland. These old clones of Semillon (including a tiny amount of Semillon gris dotted about the vineyards) deliver an expression of Semillon that is very much at odds with the modern, aromatic clones. The wines they produce are hauntingly beautiful and difficult to define.
The grapes were pressed gently in an old basket press and fermented with wild yeasts in old oak barrels.The wine shows savoury aromas of ginger, soft yellow fruit and wood spice. The palate is full and rounded with almond flesh and yellow melon notes and a finish of cape gooseberry.
Christian Eedes: From a 1963 Swartland vineyard. A change in winemaking saw the wine spend three months in new 500-litre barrels from Austrian cooperage Stockinger done to offset the variety’s natural propensity to become reductive – it has certainly added the wine a little more polish. The nose shows peach, naartjie, hay and a hint of waxiness while the palate is relatively rich and thick textured with nicely integrated acidity, the finish long and intensely savoury. 93/100.
Thorne & Daughters 'Snakes & Ladders' Sauvignon Blanc 2021
WO Citrusdal Mountain
John Seccombe: Snakes and Ladders’ name takes its inspiration from the wild nature of these elevated bush vine vineyards high up in the mountains, along with the highs and lows of farming these incredible parcels in such a challenging climate. It is this heat and water scarcity that keeps the roots of these vines searching for every ounce of nutrients they can extract from their deep red soils.
The wine that comes from these pristine grapes is deeply complex and we vinify it as simply as we can from whole bunch pressing the grapes to months of cool maturation in old oak barrels. Crushed blackcurrant leaf, opulent exotic fruit and smokey mineral notes form an intensely complex nose. The palate is rich and structured with green mango, sourdough, earth and ripe fig cut by saline acidity.
Christian Eedes: From Skurfberg Sauvignon Blanc. Spontaneously fermented and matured for approximately nine months in old oak. Exotic aromatics of elderflower, citrus, peach, granadilla and pineapple plus some leesy complexity. “We try to beat it down but it won’t quit,” says Seccombe. The palate has pure fruit and racy acidity before a dry finish. Good weight as you might expect. 92/100.
Thorne & Daughters 'Tin Soldier' Semillon Gris 2021
WO Swartland
John Seccombe: Tin Soldier is a skin-fermented wine made from Semillon gris, which is almost unique to South Africa, and a vestige of a time when Semillon was the grape on which the South African wine industry was built. The vineyard has been established from a sélection massale of Semillon gris cuttings taken from an adjacent vineyard of Semillon that was planted in 1964.
The colour of the wine is unusual, having taken some bright copper tones from about a week’s fermentation on skins. We continually aim to improve on our winemaking, and patience at picking time has allowed us to pick wines just that little bit riper and more complex without losing the elegance that this vineyard produces.
The interplay between savoury and sweet is a key point of interest in Tin Soldier, and makes for a subtle and engaging wine. The wine shows aromas of crushed rooibos leaves, warm toast and ruby grapefruit. The palate is rich, textured and long with spiced apple and loose leaf tea.
Christian Eedes: From Swartland Semillon Gris, 50% fermented on the skins for one week. Complex aromatics of potpourri, citrus, peach, some nuttiness and spice. The palate shows great fruit depth matched by tangy acidity, the finish gently savoury. A wine full of captivating detail. 95/100.
Thorne & Daughters 'Wanderer's Heart' Cape Red 2021
WO Western Cape
John Seccombe: The Wanderer’s Heart is our Cape Red – a wine that is built around the incredible vineyards found all over the Western Cape. Over the past few years, we have slowly dialled up the Syrah component in this wine to take advantage of these wonderful dark, peppery wines that compliment the other components so well. The wine is focused, with mulberries, black olive flesh and cedar wood on the nose. The tannins are supple and integrated into a fresh palate of cranberries and woody spices.
Christian Eedes: Striking aromatics of red berries, olive, fynbos, pepper and spice while the palate is light-bodied but intensely flavoured – pure fruit, snappy acidity and powdery tannins. Great energy and an especially dry finish. 92/100.
Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan
Thorne & Daughters 'Menagerie' Chardonnay 2020
WO Piekenierskloof & Ceres Plateau
The new Menagerie label is the home of small production wines, many of them one-offs, by John and his winery team. This Chardonnay will be a regular feature. A blend of two high altitude sites from Piekenierskloof and Ceres Plateau that bring vastly different characters to the final wine. Whole-bunch pressed into old oak for ferment, this wine is pure and expressive, without being too sculptured. Really lovely if limited.
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