Jewel Box

Grilled game fish with rich mayo aioli – roasted quail with Champagne risotto and wild mushrooms.

A further technique of using a reserve portion of Chardonnay which has spent 12 months in old French barrels also adds a very interesting blending component. The final blend consists of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir. The wine spends a minimum of 41 months on the lees in order to develop the optimum complexity.

The grapes were hand harvested towards the end of January 2016 and gently whole bunch pressed to recover a maximum of only 550 litres per ton. Fermentation of the Chardonnay was split between stainless steel and old French oak barrels while the Pinot Noir was only fermented in stainless steel. This creates the basis of complex building blocks which are critical when it comes to the final blending.

Silverthorn Wines is among only a handful of producers who have dedicated their expertise solely to the production of this elegant style of wine. We are a proud member of the Cap Classique Association an independent organisation which collectively supports and markets Cap Classique wines and of course a member of the prestigious Cape Winemakers Guild. Silverthorn’s terroir with its rocky lime-rich shale soils similar to the famous Champagne soils in France coupled with our mature Chardonnay vineyards ensure the time is ripe for Silverthorn’s grand entry into the world of sparkling wine.