Thorne & Daughters Snakes & Ladders Sauvignon Blanc 2024

Thorne & Daughters Snakes & Ladders Sauvignon Blanc

Region: Western Cape, South Africa

Vintage: 2024

Bottle size: 75cl

Grape: Sauvignon Blanc

ABV: 14%

An atypical style of South African Sauvignon Blanc. This wine has distinctive aromas of blackcurrant leaf, lemongrass, jasmine, marzipan and a hint of smoke. The palate is rich and structured with flavours of gooseberry, orange zest and pear, balanced against a brilliant tension and energy that carries through to the mouth-watering finish.

This wine is drawn from two vineyards in an area colloquially known as the "Skurfberg" or 'rough mountain' which is a plateau high up on the West Coast overlooking the Atlantic to the West and the Olifantsrivier Valley and Cederberg Mountains to the East. The soils are deep red sands over gravel beds and the climate is moderated by cooling winds from the Atlantic side. Both vineyards are bush vines and are dry farmed in an area that often sees less than 250mm of rain per year.

Upon arrival at the winery, the Sauvignon Blanc grapes were whole bunch pressed in an old Vaslin press. This ensured an oxidative and very gentle pressing - yielding a very clear juice. The juice was left to settle overnight and was then racked into a mix of 225, 300 and 500 litre old oak barrels for fermentation with natural yeasts. After fermentation, the wine underwent spontaneous malolactic fermentation and was aged in barrel on its lees for 9-10 months. No sulphur additions were made until early winter, once the wine had time to settle.

Thorne & Daughters is widely acknowledged as one of the forerunners of the ‘New Wave’ wine movement in South Africa. Since 2013, John and Tasha Thorne-Seccombe have been producing innovative wines sourced from selected growers across the Western Cape.

https://www.thorneanddaughters.com