In the middle of winter, when the vines have shed the last of their amber leaves and the roots are drawing their strength for summer; when the grey-green veld sparkles after the rain and the tallest peaks of the Riviersonderend mountains are dusted in snow, it is the striking silhouette of the Acacia (Vachellia) karroo, with its profusion of dazzling white thorns, that commands attention. It was this image that inspired the name Silverthorn Wines.

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silverthorn champagne

“Silverthorn Wines fill their Cap Classique bottles, and their lives with beauty, passion and uniqueness – something we should all be wholly embracing right now.”

- Heather Hook
Silverthorn Wines has established itself as one of the premier producers of Cap Classique – wines which have undergone secondary fermentation in the bottle. Based in the Robertson winelands, a once ancient seabed, Silverthorn’s terroir of a rocky, lime-rich soil and shale lends itself to the art of bubbly-making. It is after all similar to the famed soils of Champagne in France. Coupled with our old Chardonnay vineyards we made the decision in 2004 to focus exclusively on the production of Cap Classique – a decision that was pioneering for the region. Currently our production stands at a total of 44,000 bottles. With such a small production, our primary aim is focused on exploring and developing the art and science needed to produce some of the finest South African sparkling wines.
Silverthorn wines Champagne range

“A journey through taste, time and imagination.”

Silverthorn has become synonymous with our ethos of Afropean synergy, combining old world European heritage and knowledge; and our contemporary African environment and culture. The storytelling and imagery, with each product we have released, has become an important Silverthorn feature connecting palates to our heritage, history and nature.
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“Music from our formative years has a remarkable ability to stay with us. Neuroscientists tell us that our brains form especially strong emotional connections to the songs we hear in our youth, and for me no band left a deeper impression than Pink Floyd. One song in particular became the soundtrack to our Namibian adventure: Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Released in 1975 on the album Wish You Were Here, it is widely regarded as one of Pink Floyd’s greatest works. Written as a tribute to Syd Barrett—the band’s brilliant founding member—it reflects on his extraordinary creativity and the tragic mental illness that ultimately led him to withdraw from public life. The opening lines have always resonated with me: Remember when you were young You shone like the sun. Shine on, you crazy diamond. The song is both a celebration and a lament—a heartfelt reminder of the brilliance that once was. As fate would have it, Shine On You Crazy Diamond became the soundtrack to our own journey. On countless dusty drives across the Skeleton Coast, it crackled through the ageing tape deck of our faithful Land Rover, filling the vast desert silence with music, hope and possibility. Every trip into the Sperrgebiet carried the dream that perhaps today would be the day we uncovered our own elusive sparkling prize. Looking back, I realise that while we were searching for diamonds beneath the sea, we were also collecting memories that would prove even more precious. Perhaps that is what Crazy Diamond has always meant to me.” - John @winelobster @karen.loubser @cape_winemakers_guild #CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast #Namibia

“Music from our formative years has a remarkable ability to stay with us. Neuroscientists tell us that our brains form especially strong emotional connections to the songs we hear in our youth, and for me no band left a deeper impression than Pink Floyd.

One song in particular became the soundtrack to our Namibian adventure: Shine On You Crazy Diamond.

Released in 1975 on the album Wish You Were Here, it is widely regarded as one of Pink Floyd’s greatest works. Written as a tribute to Syd Barrett—the band’s brilliant founding member—it reflects on his extraordinary creativity and the tragic mental illness that ultimately led him to withdraw from public life.

The opening lines have always resonated with me:

Remember when you were young
You shone like the sun.
Shine on, you crazy diamond.

The song is both a celebration and a lament—a heartfelt reminder of the brilliance that once was.

As fate would have it, Shine On You Crazy Diamond became the soundtrack to our own journey. On countless dusty drives across the Skeleton Coast, it crackled through the ageing tape deck of our faithful Land Rover, filling the vast desert silence with music, hope and possibility. Every trip into the Sperrgebiet carried the dream that perhaps today would be the day we uncovered our own elusive sparkling prize.

Looking back, I realise that while we were searching for diamonds beneath the sea, we were also collecting memories that would prove even more precious. Perhaps that is what Crazy Diamond has always meant to me.” - John

@winelobster @karen.loubser @cape_winemakers_guild

#CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast #Namibia

Part 2/2 “We also shared the coastline with thousands of Cape fur seals. They were wonderfully noisy, unmistakably smelly, and an inseparable part of life on the Skeleton Coast. One afternoon we came across a tiny seal pup lying motionless on the beach, too weak and exhausted to move. We carefully loaded him into the back of the Land Rover and took him home. Convinced he was starving, we bought a box of pilchards from the local Spanish fishing factory. We thoughtfully cut the fish into bite-sized pieces and tried to feed him—without any success. Fortunately, our neighbour, a French professor studying seals, quickly explained our mistake. Seal pups don’t eat chopped fish—they swallow them whole, head first, no matter the size. We named our new companion **Mellie**, after one of the common shapes of a rough diamond. Within days of a steady diet of whole pilchards, he regained his strength and soon became part of the family. Mellie slept in our seaside house, travelled with us into the Sperrgebiet in the back of the Land Rover, and before long had become something of a local celebrity around Lüderitz. We may not have found as many diamonds as we had hoped, but looking back, it’s hard to imagine anything that could have shone brighter than an orphaned seal named Mellie.” - John @winelobster @karen.loubser #CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast

Part 2/2

“We also shared the coastline with thousands of Cape fur seals. They were wonderfully noisy, unmistakably smelly, and an inseparable part of life on the Skeleton Coast.

One afternoon we came across a tiny seal pup lying motionless on the beach, too weak and exhausted to move. We carefully loaded him into the back of the Land Rover and took him home. Convinced he was starving, we bought a box of pilchards from the local Spanish fishing factory. We thoughtfully cut the fish into bite-sized pieces and tried to feed him—without any success.

Fortunately, our neighbour, a French professor studying seals, quickly explained our mistake. Seal pups don’t eat chopped fish—they swallow them whole, head first, no matter the size.

We named our new companion **Mellie**, after one of the common shapes of a rough diamond. Within days of a steady diet of whole pilchards, he regained his strength and soon became part of the family. Mellie slept in our seaside house, travelled with us into the Sperrgebiet in the back of the Land Rover, and before long had become something of a local celebrity around Lüderitz.

We may not have found as many diamonds as we had hoped, but looking back, it’s hard to imagine anything that could have shone brighter than an orphaned seal named Mellie.” - John

@winelobster @karen.loubser

#CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast

Part 1/2 “Diamond diving is notoriously difficult, not because of the diamonds themselves, but because of the unforgiving environment in which they lie. Violent sandstorms, shifting dunes, relentless winds, salty sea mist, stormy seas and a blistering desert sun pushed both man and machinery to their limits. Every day was a battle against the elements. Yet amidst this harshness existed an overwhelming natural beauty. The solitude and silence of the desert had an almost meditative quality, while the untouched wilderness teemed with wildlife. Gemsbok, springbok and jackals were regular companions, but my favourite encounters were with the elusive **Strandwolf**—the Brown Hyena. These shy nocturnal scavengers would visit our campsite under cover of darkness in search of food, often leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. On one memorable occasion they even managed to chew holes through our enormous metal teapot! The coastline provided an endless feast. We always had a pot of black mussels simmering over the fire, while giant limpets roasted on the coals. Crayfish were plentiful and became our primary source of protein. These were magnificent creatures—the largest and oldest crayfish imaginable—many well over half a metre from the tip of their feelers to their tails and probably fifty years old or more. …” 📸: @bradwoodphotography @winelobster @karen.loubser #CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast

Part 1/2

“Diamond diving is notoriously difficult, not because of the diamonds themselves, but because of the unforgiving environment in which they lie. Violent sandstorms, shifting dunes, relentless winds, salty sea mist, stormy seas and a blistering desert sun pushed both man and machinery to their limits. Every day was a battle against the elements.

Yet amidst this harshness existed an overwhelming natural beauty. The solitude and silence of the desert had an almost meditative quality, while the untouched wilderness teemed with wildlife. Gemsbok, springbok and jackals were regular companions, but my favourite encounters were with the elusive **Strandwolf**—the Brown Hyena. These shy nocturnal scavengers would visit our campsite under cover of darkness in search of food, often leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. On one memorable occasion they even managed to chew holes through our enormous metal teapot!

The coastline provided an endless feast. We always had a pot of black mussels simmering over the fire, while giant limpets roasted on the coals. Crayfish were plentiful and became our primary source of protein. These were magnificent creatures—the largest and oldest crayfish imaginable—many well over half a metre from the tip of their feelers to their tails and probably fifty years old or more.

…”

📸: @bradwoodphotography

@winelobster @karen.loubser

#CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast

“Lüderitz was unlike anywhere I had ever seen. It felt as though it had been lifted straight from the set of Mad Max—a remote outpost where elegant German colonial buildings stood improbably against the stark, windswept landscape of the Namib Desert. It was a place of striking contrasts, where civilisation seemed to cling to the very edge of one of the world’s most unforgiving environments. For the next eighteen months, Lüderitz became our home, giving us access to both the northern and southern reaches of the Sperrgebiet. Our mining operation was surprisingly simple in principle, but formidable in scale. A large tractor powered a massive PTO-driven pump, connected to six-inch pipes that we dragged hundreds of metres out into the surf. The pump sucked diamond-bearing gravel from the seabed and fed it through a classifier, which separated the material into different sizes. From there, it entered a jig—a vibrating concentrator that exploited the diamonds’ density, causing them to settle into the centre of a sorting tray where they could finally be recovered. Transporting this equipment across the desert each day fell to our trusty 1967 short-wheelbase Land Rover. It wasn’t fast, it wasn’t comfortable, and it certainly wasn’t reliable—but it was all we had. On paper, we were fully prepared. We had the equipment, the permits, the determination, and the confidence of youth. What could possibly go wrong? As it turned out, quite a lot. Because to dive for diamonds on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, you first have to be a little bit... Crazy.” - John @winelobster @karen.loubser @thedogstarcollective #CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast #Namibia

“Lüderitz was unlike anywhere I had ever seen. It felt as though it had been lifted straight from the set of Mad Max—a remote outpost where elegant German colonial buildings stood improbably against the stark, windswept landscape of the Namib Desert. It was a place of striking contrasts, where civilisation seemed to cling to the very edge of one of the world’s most unforgiving environments.

For the next eighteen months, Lüderitz became our home, giving us access to both the northern and southern reaches of the Sperrgebiet.

Our mining operation was surprisingly simple in principle, but formidable in scale. A large tractor powered a massive PTO-driven pump, connected to six-inch pipes that we dragged hundreds of metres out into the surf. The pump sucked diamond-bearing gravel from the seabed and fed it through a classifier, which separated the material into different sizes. From there, it entered a jig—a vibrating concentrator that exploited the diamonds’ density, causing them to settle into the centre of a sorting tray where they could finally be recovered.

Transporting this equipment across the desert each day fell to our trusty 1967 short-wheelbase Land Rover. It wasn’t fast, it wasn’t comfortable, and it certainly wasn’t reliable—but it was all we had.

On paper, we were fully prepared. We had the equipment, the permits, the determination, and the confidence of youth.

What could possibly go wrong?

As it turned out, quite a lot.

Because to dive for diamonds on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, you first have to be a little bit... Crazy.” - John

@winelobster @karen.loubser @thedogstarcollective

#CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast #Namibia

“Way back in March 1990, I embarked on one of the greatest adventures of my life. My second cousin, Billy Clayton, and I had been given the opportunity to dive for diamonds on a private mining concession off the harsh desert coastline of Namibia. For three months we built our specialised mining equipment in Windhoek. When it was finally complete, we set off for Lüderitzbucht—the epicentre of the greatest diamond discovery the world has ever witnessed. We named our small mining company NADD (Namibian Alluvial Diamond Divers), and armed with little more than youthful enthusiasm, determination, and a healthy dose of bravado, we headed into the windswept wilderness of Namibia’s legendary Skeleton Coast. Lüderitz is a remote harbour town that owes its existence to the discovery of diamonds in 1908. The find sparked one of history’s great diamond rushes, transforming this desolate coastline almost overnight. Although the frenzy was interrupted by the First World War, the region remained one of the richest diamond deposits on Earth. After the war, Consolidated Diamond Mines took control of the area, creating the restricted Sperrgebiet—the “forbidden zone.” For decades, access was limited to a privileged few. Ironically, the need to protect the diamonds also preserved the desert itself, leaving its extraordinary landscapes, wildlife, and plant life virtually untouched—a true natural time capsule. As newly approved diamond divers, Billy and I were granted rare security clearance to enter this forbidden world. It was an extraordinary privilege, and the beginning of an unforgettable chapter in my life. These are my Sparkling Memories.” - John @winelobster @karen.loubser @thedogstarcollective #CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast #Namibia

“Way back in March 1990, I embarked on one of the greatest adventures of my life. My second cousin, Billy Clayton, and I had been given the opportunity to dive for diamonds on a private mining concession off the harsh desert coastline of Namibia.

For three months we built our specialised mining equipment in Windhoek. When it was finally complete, we set off for Lüderitzbucht—the epicentre of the greatest diamond discovery the world has ever witnessed.

We named our small mining company NADD (Namibian Alluvial Diamond Divers), and armed with little more than youthful enthusiasm, determination, and a healthy dose of bravado, we headed into the windswept wilderness of Namibia’s legendary Skeleton Coast.

Lüderitz is a remote harbour town that owes its existence to the discovery of diamonds in 1908. The find sparked one of history’s great diamond rushes, transforming this desolate coastline almost overnight. Although the frenzy was interrupted by the First World War, the region remained one of the richest diamond deposits on Earth. After the war, Consolidated Diamond Mines took control of the area, creating the restricted Sperrgebiet—the “forbidden zone.”

For decades, access was limited to a privileged few. Ironically, the need to protect the diamonds also preserved the desert itself, leaving its extraordinary landscapes, wildlife, and plant life virtually untouched—a true natural time capsule.

As newly approved diamond divers, Billy and I were granted rare security clearance to enter this forbidden world. It was an extraordinary privilege, and the beginning of an unforgettable chapter in my life.

These are my Sparkling Memories.” - John

@winelobster @karen.loubser @thedogstarcollective

#CrazyDiamond #SilverthornWines #DiamondDiving #SkeletonCoast #Namibia

Celebrate Life: Spring Edition Spring has a way of reminding us that there is always something new to look forward to. And we think that’s worth celebrating. 🥂 Purchase 6 bottles or more of Silverthorn Cap Classique and you’ll automatically be entered into our Celebrate Life: Spring Edition competition. One lucky winner will receive: ✨ A tasting for two at the Silverthorn Tasting Room ✨ A mixed case of Silverthorn & Dog Star wines ✨ Six Silverthorn branded glasses ✨ A premium champagne closure ✨ A Magnum of River Dragon A rather lovely collection made for opening, pouring, sharing and celebrating. The vines are waking. The first signs of Spring are appearing. And somewhere amongst the leaves, The Green Man stirs once more. Because life gives us plenty of reasons to save the bubbles for another day. We prefer to find reasons to open them. Order online: www.silverthornwines.co.za @robertsontourism @mcgregortourism @bonnievaletourism @montagutourism #SilverthornWines #TheGreenMan #CelebrateLife #CapClassique #CelebrateEveryday

Celebrate Life: Spring Edition

Spring has a way of reminding us that there is always something new to look forward to.

And we think that’s worth celebrating. 🥂

Purchase 6 bottles or more of Silverthorn Cap Classique and you’ll automatically be entered into our Celebrate Life: Spring Edition competition.

One lucky winner will receive:

✨ A tasting for two at the Silverthorn Tasting Room
✨ A mixed case of Silverthorn & Dog Star wines
✨ Six Silverthorn branded glasses
✨ A premium champagne closure
✨ A Magnum of River Dragon

A rather lovely collection made for opening, pouring, sharing and celebrating.

The vines are waking.
The first signs of Spring are appearing.
And somewhere amongst the leaves, The Green Man stirs once more.

Because life gives us plenty of reasons to save the bubbles for another day.

We prefer to find reasons to open them.

Order online: www.silverthornwines.co.za

@robertsontourism @mcgregortourism @bonnievaletourism @montagutourism
#SilverthornWines #TheGreenMan #CelebrateLife #CapClassique #CelebrateEveryday

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