Thorne & Daughters are widely acknowledged to be a key figure in South Africa’s ‘New Wave’ wine movement. Since 2013, John and Tasha Thorne-Seccombe have been producing innovative wines sourced from selected growers across the Western Cape. In the early 2000s, winemaking took the couple around the world, and they spent a few years in the UK, where John studied viticulture at Plumpton College while working part-time at Majestic Wines and Ridgeview. Back in South Africa, a happy encounter with two similarly trailblazing young winemakers, Chris Alheit and Peter-Allan Finlayson, helped lay the foundations for the first vintage of Thorne & Daughters. John and Tasha shared a small cellar with Chris and Peter-Allan until they moved to rented cellar space at Gabriëlskloof, where the wines are made today.
Thorne & Daughters’ principal wine is ‘Rocking Horse’; a blend of Roussanne, Semillon, Roussanne, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Clairette sourced from several parcels around the Western Cape. It is deep gold with aromas of yellow plum, kumquat and bay leaf with saline undertones.
