Silverthorn

As the son of a Windhoek hotelier, John has always been surrounded and interested by wine and food. After matriculating he decided to study architecture but soon discovered he needed something far more stimulating to fill his days. This triggered a few exciting adventures – two years of diving for diamonds off Namibia’s Skeleton Coast followed by 8 months of working and travelling in Europe. Upon returning John finally went off to Elsenburg to study wine making, applied himself fanatically and graduated as Dux student. John has been a member of the prestigious Cape Winemakers Guild since December 2004.

After successful wine making stints at Moreson in Franschoek, De Wetshof in Robertson and Graham Beck Wines in Robertson John joined Steenberg in 2001 as their cellar master, taking on the added responsibility of general manager in 2007. Silverthorn’s growth and the desire to pursue his own dreams, were the deciding factors that made John resign from Steenberg in June 2017. Now it is all about planning and preparation of the development of the Silverthorn Wines home. Currently Silverthorn Farm is going through rezoning, from agricultural to industrial, and if all goes to plan – we will commence with the building of the Silverthorn Cellar early 2019. It is with great excitement that John is looking forward to the 2020 Vintage which will be the maiden vintage on Silverthorn Farm.

Silverthorn Farm was purchased by Karen’s Family in 1976 and officially taken over by John and Karen in 1999. Karen has been involved in the daily administration of Silverthorn Farm since 1998 and has headed the General Management of Silverthorn Wines since 2006 when the first Vintage was released.

Whilst the Farm and the Wines take up much time, Family life remains the most important aspect to life for John and Karen, proud parents of Faine and Tivon. Daughter Faine is a UCT graduate in Film & Media and son Tivon is currently in his first year at UCT studying a Bachelor of Business Science. Not to be omitted, is an abiding love for dogs and particularly the Rottweiler breed, manifested in the frequently featured Rottweiler Thena, Silverthorn’s ‘Big Dog II’.