Thorne & Daughters Rocking Horse Cape White Blend 2017
This is a carefully-calculated mosaic of cape flavour. You get sweet, supple fruit, with pitch-perfect texture and just the right weight of richness. Crucially, the blend offers a new palate of flavours that you wouldn’t manage to achieve by single varieties alone. To give you an idea, think white and yellow peach, with gentle spice and a hint of earthiness. This wine is the result of some of the very finest fruit grown in South Africa, combined with inconceivably masterful winemaking. We’re talking about as good as the Rainbow Nation has to offer. Not only does it offer a truly unique flavour profile that can’t really be found anywhere else, but the quality is laid bare with every sip for all to see. The best way to find out is to try it. It will not disappoint.
Profile
Reviews
WineMag.co.za
“23% Roussanne, 22% Chenin Blanc, 21% Semillon, 17% Clairette Blanche and 17% Chardonnay sourced from across the Western Cape. The nose shows white and yellow fruit, dried herbs, spice and a little earthiness. The palate has a little extra padding than Secommbe’s other 2017s (alcohol is 13.5%) but this is very much in its favour – it’s flavour-packed and quite luscious without being ingratiating. The overall impression is one of rich but very well balanced wine – powerful , precise and persisitent.”
It’s cool, we get it, you want to know absolutely everything about this wine. Well here you go, go nuts.
Specs
- Region
- South Africa
- Vintage
- 2017
- Cellaring
- 2023
- Preservatives
- Sulphites
- Alcohol by Vol.
- 13.5%
- Closure
- Cork
- Bottle Vol
- 750mL
- Blend Info
- 23% Roussanne, 22% Chenin Blanc, 21% Semillon Blanc, 17% Clairette Blanche, 17% Chardonnay
- Serving Temp.
- 10.0°C
Tasting
From the producer
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. The aromas are of lime leaf, white peach, exotic woods, and sweet dried herbs. In the mouth, the wine starts broad and rich, resolving into a keen line of acidity supported by a gentle tannin with flavours of burnt sugar, orange flower and rooibos leaf.
Winemaking
Viticulture
2017 was a very dry vintage, but relatively cool, so despite the challenges of water stress, there was great quality to be found in our vineyards. Our vineyard selection supports our vision to deliver a blended Cape White wine of depth, texture and subtlety. In sourcing Roussanne, Chardonnay, Semillon, Clairette blanche and Chenin blanc, we are looking for both heritage and young vineyards which all bring their own unique elements and ability to ‘speak’ about the place in which they are grown.
Crafting
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’. Picking is done early and based mostly on taste with an eye on the style of the wine that we’re aiming at. We are not looking for a big alcohol expression (nor a low alcohol one for that matter) and prefer subtle wines that show ripeness, while being restrained and elegant. The grapes are whole-bunch pressed and no treatments or additions are used on the juice. This hands-off regime on the juice really helps to develop the character of the wine. The juice is then racked off the heavy solids and taken to old oak barrels of various volumes. The wines are fermented naturally, and they are allowed to then go through their subsequent malolactic fermentation. We watch them carefully for the next few months until they ‘settle down’, at which point we add some sulphur dioxide. Primary fruit is not what we are looking for here, rather we’re trying to show the underlying character of the grapes and the vineyard where they came from.
The rules are there ain’t no rules, but here are some foods we think will work pretty well with this wine...
Goes with
Salt & pepper squid
Ingredients
- 3 (about 600g) large cleaned squid hoods
- 1L (4 cups) vegetable oil
- 40g (1/4 cup) plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp Chinese five-spice
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- Lemon wedges and soy sauce with
- sliced fresh red chilli, to serve
Directions
- Use a sharp knife to cut through 1 side of each squid hood lengthways. Open out flat with inside surface facing up and score surface diagonally. Cut into 3.5cm squares and pat dry with paper towel.
- Heat the oil in a large wok over medium heat until it reaches 190°C on a confectionary/oil thermometer. (Or, add a 5cm cube of bread to the oil - it should turn light golden in 10 seconds.)
- Meanwhile, combine the flour, salt, pepper, Chinese five-spice and chilli in a medium bowl. Add the squid and toss gently to coat.
- Remove half of the squid from the flour mixture and shake off any excess. Add to the oil and cook, turning with a slotted metal spoon, for 2 minutes or until the squid just turns golden and curls. Use the slotted spoon to transfer the squid to a large plate lined with paper towel to drain. Reheat the oil in the wok to 190°C. Repeat with the remaining squid.
- Serve immediately with the lemon wedges and chilli soy sauce.