Thorn & Burrow wants to start a wine revolution
Unless you run with in-the-know circles savvy to the latest going’s-on in Canadian natural wine, it’s unlikely you’ve come across virtual producer Thorn & Burrow.
Owner Alex Thornley meets all the requirements positioning him with “it boy” status: he’s a transplant from England, he’s producing an entirely skin contact only portfolio, and he’s doing it at one of Canada’s winery darlings: Scout.
With a category as nefarious and trendy as natural wine, there’s an awful lot of mediocre wine and eye catching labels to wade through. It would be all too easy to cast off Thorn & Burrow for these reasons. Sexy marketing, cloudy orange wine, another handsome guy with an accent promising you that good good? It’s enough to render even the most idealistic of wine drinkers suspect.
Yet, chat with Alex for mere moments and any suspicion of yet another natural wine grifter all but disappear. Within minutes Alex will be waxing on about his incredibly diverse proclivity for literature, from classics like Yuval Noah Harari to pundits like Douglas Murray.
It’s apparent there’s substance, and a lot of it, and it all starts to cement why Alex would take on as challenging a category as orange wine: he’s the right guy to do it. Grace and humility are embodied effortlessly. Alex doesn’t flex his virtue: he just is.
LM: Can you tell me a little more about what drew you to wine, specifically? From starting off as a sommelier (why?) to eventually getting into winemaking.
AT: I originally took a gig in a wine shop here in Vancouver, I started reading, going to tastings, waking up my palate. I got offered a role at a new wine bar opening back in the day in Gastown called Salt Tasting Room. We had some talent there and I got further into the game, eventually I did some wine education courses but never really bit too hard into the conventional wine/sommelier culture.
This was at a time when the natural wine scene in Vancouver was in it's infancy, with legends like Brian Sohn (Racine) and Matt Sherlock (Sedimentary) being the only conduits of juice into the city. I got sick of picking my favorite tracks for guests to listen to and decided I wanted to learn how the music was made.
Matt was an inspirational figure for me and after a brief harvest at Nichol he suggested I get some international experience under my belt. I started the next few years of travelling and working with various low intervention and biodynamic producers around the world (NZ, SA, FRA) and a stint at Le Vieux Pin in the Okanagan where I helped launch their inaugural low intervention label Artakama after they let me play with some fruit (thanks Sev!).
I found traveling, meeting and working with some amazing producers was such a valuable experience. I've always been more of a get-out-there-and-do-it type rather than the conventional schooling approach.
LM: What challenges pose the greatest a struggle for you? How do you overcome them?
AT: As a small gorilla style producer without land or a winery, it's always hard finding organic fruit in an ever increasing competitive market. How do I overcome that? I'm not sure I have, hustling helps, having a few million dollars would also help. Investing in land and our own facility would be a solution but knowing a solution and executing are two different things. We looked further afield and took a lease on a small vineyard in Abbotsford where I can easily manage it from my base in Vancouver. Some fun hybrids on there, it may fast become a bubbles site for us.
LM: Can you tell me in more detail what your experience has been like at Scout?
Those boys are the best! I've been so so sooo lucky to land T&B there for the last few years. Their space is low fi with all wild yeasts so it's worked out well. They're a charming bunch of bastards and super helpful. It's been fun to bounce ideas around. As they grow in volume it might be time for us to fly the coup. Well, perhaps more of a fall from the tree and see if I survive the drop type of situation. Another of the main challenges for small guys like us is finding a production facility with the right aligned philosophies, but we've got some exciting leads. Watch this space.
LM: You’re British - any wineries on your radar from the region ?
AT: No. In a short answer. I've been out of that fun little island for some time. The wine scene 15 years ago was pretty non existent. There's a couple of natural guys though, Tillingham, I hear is doing some cool stuff. I'd love to check them out.
LM: What’s your long term plan? What does the future hold for Thorn and Burrow?
AT: Well we're just hoping to make better and better wine each year, as I hone my skills and palate, learn from the sites we have access to. As I said, finding a permanent solution to our production and vineyard problems is paramount. I'm keen to explore having something in Vancouver, there's so many well done urban wineries around the world, it's something that hasn't been executed that often here. I'm hoping the government will pull their fingers outta their arses and reform the liqour laws but I think we all know that goverments are rarely purveyors-of-change for the people. Hey, you fancy starting a revolution?!
You can purchase Thorn and Burrow wines here.
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