Silverthorn
A specialist sparkling house on the banks of the Breede River — Silverthorn makes some of South Africa's most admired Cap Classique, led by The Green Man Blanc de Blancs, off its own Robertson vineyards. Here's what to taste and how to visit.
Robertson is best known for Chardonnay and value, but tucked on the banks of the Breede River is a house that does something rarer: it makes sparkling wine, almost exclusively, and makes it well enough to sit among South Africa's very best. Silverthorn is a specialist Cap Classique producer, working its own riverside vineyards, and its flagship — The Green Man Blanc de Blancs — is one of the country's benchmark bottles. In a valley of big co-ops and everyday brands, it's the quiet, serious outlier.
Come for the bubbles and the river. Both are worth the trip out along Route 62.
Why Robertson, and why sparkling
The secret is under the vines. Robertson has something most of South Africa lacks: limestone-rich soils, the chalky ground that Champagne and the world's best sparkling regions are built on. It lends freshness, finesse and a mineral backbone — which is exactly why the valley has long been a Chardonnay stronghold, and why a dedicated sparkling house like Silverthorn can thrive here rather than on the fashionable Cape Town-side routes.
Silverthorn leans into that advantage. It farms its own fruit on the Breede's banks and makes traditional-method sparkling with real precision — no broad range of reds and whites to split its focus, just bottle after bottle of carefully made Cap Classique.
Robertson's limestone is the Cape's best-kept sparkling secret. Silverthorn is what happens when someone takes it seriously.
The wines
Start with The Green Man Blanc de Blancs, the flagship — all Chardonnay, taut and chalky and long, a wine that stands with the best Cap Classique in the country and rewards a little bottle age. It's the reason to know the name.
Then The Jewel Box, a Chardonnay-and-Pinot-Noir sparkling with a touch more breadth and richness — the classic two-grape blend done with the same care. And The Genie, the sparkling rosé, pale and delicate but properly structured, the bottle for a summer table on the riverbank. Between the three you get the full range of a house that has clearly decided sparkling is the whole job, not a sideline.
Visiting
Tastings are hosted at the riverside estate, and the setting is a large part of the charm — a quiet stretch of the Breede, a world away from the crowds of the Cape Town-side routes. It's a small, focused producer, so book ahead, and build it into a wider Robertson day that takes in the valley's Chardonnay and Cap Classique houses — the neighbouring Graham Beck is the obvious sparkling counterpart. Fees and current hours live on the estate's site — check before you travel.
What to buy
The Green Man Blanc de Blancs is the bottle to carry home — a benchmark Cap Classique, and the truest taste of what Robertson's limestone does for sparkling. The Jewel Box is the richer, two-grape option for a celebration, and The Genie rosé is the one for a warm afternoon by the water. Buy the Green Man to understand the house; buy the others to drink your way through the valley's best-kept secret.
Common questions
Cap Classique — it's one of South Africa's most admired specialist sparkling producers, working from its own vineyards on the banks of the Breede River in Robertson. The Green Man Blanc de Blancs, an all-Chardonnay sparkling, is the flagship and one of the country's benchmark bottles.
Robertson's soils are unusually rich in limestone — rare in South Africa and prized for sparkling and Chardonnay, because it lends chalky freshness and finesse. That's a big part of why the valley, and Silverthorn in particular, punches above its weight in Cap Classique and why it's long been a Chardonnay stronghold.
Yes — tastings are hosted at the riverside estate, and the setting on the Breede is a quiet, pretty alternative to the busier Cape Town-side routes. It's a small, focused producer, so book ahead, and pair it with a wider Robertson day taking in the valley's Chardonnay and Cap Classique houses.
Glossary
- Blanc de Blancs
- A sparkling wine made entirely from white grapes — in Cap Classique, that means Chardonnay. Silverthorn's flagship, The Green Man, is a Blanc de Blancs.
- Cap Classique
- South Africa's traditional-method sparkling wine, second-fermented in the bottle. Silverthorn is one of the category's dedicated specialists.
- Limestone terroir
- Robertson's calcium-rich soils, rare in South Africa, lend chalky freshness and finesse — a big reason the valley excels at Chardonnay and Cap Classique.