One of South Africa’s new-wave forerunners, Thorne & Daughters aren’t afraid to experiment. By choosing off-piste vineyards that bring out unique qualities in their grapes, they produce effortlessly stylish and interesting wines. Take this Chardonnay: you don’t get much more pure and expressive in character. Winemaker John Thorne calls it a ‘curiosity project’. We call it delicious.

John and Tasha Thorne-Seccombe have been sourcing very special grapes for their innovative wines since 2013, working closely with select Western Cape growers and other winemaking talent. John cut his winemaking teeth in the early 2000s in the UK at the celebrated Ridgeview Wines and Steven Spurrier’s Bride Valley. He even worked part-time at Majestic while studying viticulture!

Rather than sourcing from one area, Thorne & Daughters specialise in cross-Cape white blends, harvested by 15 different growers from regions such as Voor Paardeberg, Swartland, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. They’ve knocked on doors and built a collection of close winemaking contacts to get the finest fruit available. The grapes for this bottling come from two high-altitude vineyards, one clay and one sandstone.

This wine will go perfect with Simple Mushroom Risotto