Luxury SA wine brand honoured at home and abroad

The Vilafonté team is proud to announce the international release of their 2006 vintage wines. With the launch of this vintage, Vilafonté’s success continues to build as the luxury wine brand recently added a few new feathers to its cap.

In addition to the winery’s inaugural 5-star Platter rating, a 92 point score in Wine Spectator and 95 point score from Michael Franz follows hot on the heels of Vilafonté’s nomination for New World Winery of the Year by influential American wine and lifestyle magazine, Wine Enthusiast.

Vilafonté Vineyards was again the only South African nominee for the Wine Enthusiast’s New World Winery of the Year award. There have only ever been three South African nominees, with Vilafonté nominated in 2005 and 2008, making them the only South African winery to have received two nominations. 

The Wine Spectator is acknowledged globally as one of the most influential arbiters of taste and the 92 point score for the Series C 2005 something to be proud of. To quote senior Editor James Molesworth: “This young project from Mike Ratcliffe (Warwick Estate) and Zelma Long is getting better every year.”

Vilafonté is the first South African and American joint winemaking venture which focuses exclusively on the production of top quality red wines. This ground-breaking project is the brainchild of US wine gurus Zelma Long, the Grande Dame of Californian winemaking, and viticulturist husband, Dr Phil Freese, who joined forces with Mike Ratcliffe, Warwick Wine Estate proprietor, and marketing aficionado.  And, in 2003, Vilafonté was born.

The all-red Vilafonté estate vineyards are located in the Paarl region on the northern side of the Simonsberg Mountains.  The name ‘Vilafonté’ is derived from its namesake, a unique and ancient soil type comprised of moist clay and drainable pebble found on this property, the texture of which is reflected on the label. Planted to cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and malbec, the variation between blocks - coupled with the team’s philosophy and desire to produce wines that best reflect the soil and vineyards from which they originated - encouraged them to produce two wines which could be differentiated in terms of style rather than the conventional classing according to varietals. And thus, the Vilafonté ‘Series’ wines were born.

Vilafonté vineyards produce two divergently styled Bordeaux blends. Both of which are described in Decanter as “profoundly good wines.  The Series M is more overtly Pomerol in style, while the Series C has the depth, refinement and structure of a great Medoc.” (September 2007: ‘One of the top 25 Icons of Tomorrow’).   

Both of these wines are available nationally at select restaurants and wine merchants. The Vilafonté Series C retails for approximately R365 and the Series M for approximately R255 per bottle. The 2006 vintages will be released in March 2009.