Silverthorn Genie NV Brut Rose NV

Silverthorn Farm, near Robertson, was bought by Karen Loubser’s family in 1976 and was taken over by Karen and her husband, John in 1999. After studying winemaking at Elsenburg, John has been a member of the Cape Winemakers’ Guild since 2004 and has made wines successfully for estates such as Moreson, Graham Beck, and Steenberg – from which he resigned in 2017 to develop Silverthorn wines. Karen has been involved in the daily administration of Silverthorn Farm since 1998 and has headed the general management of Silverthorn Wines since 2006 when the first vintage was released.

The silhouette of the Karroo Acacia tree, with its profusion of dazzling white thorns inspired the name Silverthorn Wines. Silverthorn Wines is among only a handful of South African producers dedicated solely to the production the Cap Classique style of wine. Silverthorn’s terroir includes rocky, lime-rich, shale soils similar to the famous Champagne soils in France.

The grapes for this 100 percent Shiraz were hand harvested. The grapes were whole-bunch pressed with a low recovery rate, ensuring that no bitter tannins were extracted and the juice was left a light purple colour – which gradually evolved into salmon pink. Fermentation took place in a stainless steel tank. Secondary fermentation occurred in bottle and the wine spent a minimum time of 15 months on the lees, after which it was manually riddled (gradually tilted neck-down and rotated in small increments) and degorged.