Age of the Rebel Semillon

Serve at 15–18°C. Rolled pork loin stuffed with wild fennel and mushroom.

Grapes were all handpicked and stored overnight to cool down. These grapes hail from the upper reaches of the Franschhoek valley… the same block as the 2018 vintage, but this year we really had phenolic ripe grapes. You will remember the 2018/2019 Western Cape drought… running out of water! So we had some water, paired with the heat that summer and cool night breezes from the upper slopes of the Franschhoek valley. This block has a lot of shade in the late afternoon and we believe the combination of water, heat, and night cooling effect, gave us these super phenolic ripe grapes.

Aged and fermented in 300L 2nd fill French Oak barrels with fine lees contact for 14 months, resulted in the extremely structured monster of a wine.

This year we kicked the all reductive out the cellar and went for more effective grape sorting before whole bunch pressing. There were some botrytis bunches in the mix, which we let go through, to give you that slight sweet sensation. Pressing was one of the key turning points in the vintage. Low, but looonnnggg pressing cycles (the ones you do when pressing for noble late harvest), to get the last drop of sticky, sweet botrytis infused juice out of the bunches. We gave it some air, to oxidize all the “bad stuff” out of the juice, before racking and starting with fermentation.

There might not be a hammer-yielding god luring in the wings, but the inspiration behind this brand is fuelled by a thundering desire to make wine with character and personality. As you join us on this vinous journey, you too will find the strength of this mythical figure channelled through the courage of one humble, family man. We invite you to step into the world of Thor Vintners, a winery nestled in the heart of the Swartland. Here we focus on small-batch artisanal wines inspired by ultra-premium Rhône blends, only bringing it home to this unique corner of the world. Our vision is to specialize in Swartland grapes and where the selection and vinification thereof are intended to become rare and iconic blends.