2018 Thorne & Daughters Tin Soldier x 3 bottles 750ml...

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R1,125 - R1,700

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2018 Thorne & Daughters Tin Soldier
x 3 bottles 750ml

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PLEASE NOTE THIS WINE IS IN JOHANNESBURG
Thorne and Daughters Wines was started in 2012 by John and Tasha 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.

If we go back 100 years, Semillon was responsible for probably 95% of the wine made in this country. Tim James’ research on the variety suggests that the red mutation may at one time have been even more common than the white. John is really fascinated by the idea of the kind of wines that would have been made in the old days using these mixed vineyards, and this led him to the idea of fermenting the grapes on their skins for a few days.

The one thing he wanted to avoid here, was making a ‘gimmick’ wine. In the run up to his first harvest of this wine, they were still considering what our approach might be to this unique varietal. While sampling the vineyard and tasting the grapes, they hit on the idea of fermenting it on skins to bring out the wonderful skin tannins and hopefully extract some of that wonderful colour. The extraction is managed very carefully to retain a delicacy in the wine, while bringing out a lot of complexity. Through the years they have also included a portion of the wine that is directly whole-bunch pressed with no skin fermentation. This portion helps to lift the aromatic profile of the wine, and achieve this wonderful interplay of fruit and savoury tones that they enjoy in the wine.

The wine shows earthy aromas of crushed rooibos leaves, spice, quince and preserved lemon. The palate is rich, textured and long with spiced apple and cloves; loose leaf tea and rosemary. Quite remarkable to get such intense flavours from a vineyard planted in sandy granite soils. It shows how careful handling of skin contributes to the wine. 50% was fermented on the skins for about 1 week.

Tim Atkin MW 94/100
Jancis Robinson 17/20