Thorne & Daughters Copper Pot Chardonnay

Thorne & Daughters Copper Pot Chardonnay, Producer

Thorne & Daughters was founded in 2013 by John and Tasha Thorne-Seccombe and has become an important part of South Africa’s New Wave wine movement. Rather than establishing themselves around one estate or appellation, they chose to work with carefully selected vineyards across the Western Cape, sourcing fruit wherever they found an exciting combination of site, soil, vines and growers. Their wines are produced alongside Peter-Allan Finlayson at Gabriëlskloof and have developed a reputation for thoughtful, distinctive expressions of the Cape.

Their approach in the cellar is deliberately gentle. White wines are generally fermented naturally in seasoned French oak and allowed to develop slowly on their lees, with minimal additions and no desire to impose obvious oak flavour. Instead, John and Tasha use winemaking to build texture and allow the character of their carefully selected vineyard parcels to remain at the forefront.

Thorne & Daughters Copper Pot Chardonnay, Terroir & Winemaking

The Chardonnay comes from cool-climate parcels in Elgin, Ceres and the Overberg, bringing together three contrasting sites. The Elgin vineyard is high-altitude and east-facing, with clay-rich soils and cooling ocean breezes. The Overberg and Ceres parcels are west-facing and planted on shale, while Ceres experiences particularly pronounced differences between daytime and night-time temperatures. Together, these conditions allow the grapes to ripen fully while retaining the bright acidity essential to the wine’s freshness.

The grapes are picked relatively early to preserve subtlety and balance, then whole-bunch pressed. After settling, the juice is transferred to older oak barrels of varying sizes, where fermentation begins naturally with indigenous yeasts. Malolactic fermentation is carefully monitored, and the wine remains in barrel for several months before blending and bottling. Older oak provides texture and gentle spice without introducing the dominant vanilla or toast associated with new barrels. The attached offer similarly highlights fermentation in old oak as the element framing the wine’s bright citrus and orchard-fruit aromas with subtle brioche notes.

Thorne & Daughters Copper Pot Chardonnay 2024, Tasting Notes

Pale lemon-gold in colour, with an elegant nose of honeysuckle, lemon zest and white peach. Fresh apple and pear are joined by subtle notes of wood spice, toasted nuts and delicate brioche.

The palate is rounded and textural, showing ripe stone fruit and citrus alongside hints of salted caramel and almond. Bright acidity runs through the wine, preventing its richer flavours from becoming heavy, while seasoned oak adds a subtle savoury depth rather than obvious toastiness. The finish is long and balanced, with lingering lemon, stone fruit, nuts and gentle spice. The 2024 technical sheet specifically highlights honeysuckle and lemon zest on the nose, with salted caramel, nuts and stone fruit on the palate.