Rocking Horse 2014

Thorne & Daughters, teknisk ark/fact sheet (thorneanddaughters.com – linket fra thorneanddaughters.com, hentet 2026-10-18): 2014 Thorne & Daughters Rocking Horse – område: Western Cape; druer: Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, Sémillon, Sémillon Gris, Chardonnay; alkohol 13.1%. Producentens noter (engelsk): About the wine: TH E WINE Rocking Horse is our cornerstone wine. I’ve always thought of myself as primarily a white wine maker so this wine is something I have dreamed about making for a very long time. A Cape white blend that is the result of hand-picking intriguing parcels of grapes and hand- crafting the wine from start to finish. In putting together our Rocking Horse blend we have drawn on some of the wonderful parcels of old vines that are still found throughout the Cape winelands. We look for vineyards that can deliver the depth, texture and nuances that help to build an intriguing blend. Roussanne, Chardonnay, Semillon and Chenin blanc all bring their own unique elements and ability to ‘speak’ about the place in which they are grown. The winemaking is simple, but a lot o f hands-on care (and an enormous amount of blood, sweat and tears) goes into ensuring that the parcels are picked at the best time , the grapes arrive at the winery in really good condition and that the process of the winemaking itself is always in line with our wish to create beautifully structured wines with as natural an expression of the vineyards as possibl e. Picking is done early and based mostly on taste with an eye on the style of the wine that I’m aiming at. I am 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, from the smaller 228L burgundian pieces to the larger 600L barrels. I don’t have any new oak barrels in the cellar and most of the barrels range from 4 to 8 years old when I start using them. The wines are fermented naturally, and they are allowed to then go through their subsequent malolactic fermentation to further soften the wines. I watch them carefully for the next few months until they ‘se ttle down’, at which point I add a bit of sulphur dioxide to slow down the development during barrel ageing. 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. […]