The Story Behind Tall Horse Wines

The affordable and not-very-serious Tall Horse wine range was born in South Africa in 2005. From the beginning, the wines were a little different because as stated on their website – “Tall Horse goes with anything…and anything goes with Tall Horse.”

So you may be wondering why they are called ‘Tall Horse’ wines and not simply ‘Giraffes’ when you look at the label?

The story goes, that unknown outside of Africa for centuries, the extraordinary height and proportions of the ‘camelopardalis’ so fascinated foreigners’ senses of curiosity that it was sometimes sent as a diplomatic gift to surprise and delight kings and leaders in faraway lands.

In 1824, the Sultan of Egypt presented the King of France with a giraffe as a diplomatic gift.

The giraffe was sent up the Nile by boat and shipped across the Mediterranean where it landed at the port of Marseilles. Its journey continued as it was walked across the length of France until it eventually reached its destination in Paris.

Tens of thousands thronged the streets of the city to witness the astonishing scene as the towering creature arrived. The giraffe, nicknamed Tall Horse, sent off a frenzy of scientific and cultural interest. Some even say that it was the immense elegance, grace and stature that inspired the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Indeed even early couture has evidence of Tall Horse inspired fashions.

The Tale of the Tall Horse

There are many similarities between the giraffe that travelled from Egypt to Paris and the wines that have come to share its name. Tall Horse wines come all the way from South Africa. The grapes are grown in vineyards with near perfect conditions in the Western Cape winelands. From the slopes of the Cape Mountains caressed by cooling sea breezes, the vines drink in the winter rainfall and bask in the long summer sunshine hours allowing fantastic ripe expression of variety and land. In fact, it is these very enviable conditions that conceived a legacy of winemaking that traces back to the late 1600’s.

Yes, the Tall Horse is a true citizen of Africa with many, many friends who, led by curiosity and fascination are surprised and delighted by the wildly approachable and fruity sensory safari that is packed into every bottle of Tall Horse Wines that make the expedition to homes all over the world.