Thorne & Daughters Snakes & Ladders Sauvignon Blanc 2023

Nuts and bolts
Sauvignon blanc – Citrusdal Mountain / aka Skurfberg– 25-29 year old vineyard on red sand over clay.

About the wine

Snakes and Ladders’ name takes its inspiration from the wild nature of these elevated bushvine vineyards high up in the West Coast Mountains, along with the highs and lows of farming these incredible parcels in such a challenging climate. It is this heat and water scarcity that keeps the roots of these vines searching for every ounce of nutrients they can extract from their deep red soils.

The wine that comes from these pristine grapes is deeply complex and we vinify it as simply as we can from whole bunch pressing the grapes to months of cool maturation in old oak barrels. On the nose there are aromas of wild grass with honey melon and warm citrus. The palate shows a voluptuous structure with notes of lime leaf, bergamot and dried pear all underpinned with a finely structured acidity.

Platter’s 96/100 / *****
Mould-breaking blanc fumé from Olifants River marches to a different sauvignon drum. Like 2022 (95 pts), 2023 nods to variety’s blackcurrant & citrus but mostly embraces savoury tones of clean earth, dusty grassland & nori. Good vinosity at 14.5% alc, deep mid-palate & bracing acid seam integral to compelling wine that should develop well.

Tim Atkin: 95/100
Now including grapes from Joshua Visser as well as the late Basie van Lill, this remains one of the Cape’s great Sauvignon Blancs. A welcome antidote to some of the sweeter commercial styles, this is all about focus, texture and intensity, showing grapefruit, lime and passion fruit flavours and a steely, bone-dry finish. 2023-28