the vilafonte wine blog

Lovely write-up on our Vilafonté Series M 2005 library re-release in today's Sunday Times - thnx Joanne Gibson

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Sun, 1 Sep 2013 21:03:00 +0200

Uncorking the numbers behind America's love of Vino

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 16:19:00 +0200

For more information, please visit: www.sparefoot.com/consumers/wine-infographic/

Today we welcomed Mussa from 5 star www.fusionboutiquehotel.co.za/ for an in-depth wine tasting

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 00:01:00 +0200

Vilafonté rocks Wine Spectator

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 22:10:00 +0200

Not bad - our 2010 Vilafonté 'Series M' Merlot/Malbec/Cab blend got 93 points from Wine Spectator

Vilafonté & Klein Constantia

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Wed, 7 Aug 2013 07:43:00 +0200

Last night the Vilafonté team played nicely with Klein Constantia Vin de Constance winemaker Matthew Day. Thanks Waterfall Estate for a spectacular wine dinner.

Zelma Long, Vilafonte winemaking partner interviewed in Wine Style magazine

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 21:19:00 +0200

Wine Style was fortunate to secure an interview with one of the iconic women in winemaking on one of her recent trips back to South Africa to finalise the blending of the Vilafonté 2012 vintage of Series M and Series C. Looking at her impressive CV you know that you will be meeting one of the most respected women in wine-making.

Vilafonté winemaking partner - Zelma Long

Last year, Zelma was voted “The Drinks Business” Top 50 Most Influential Women in the Wine World and can count former CEO of Simi (while it was owned by LVMH and Chief Enologist at the Robert Mondavi Winery as part of her winemaking past.

We asked her:

Why Vilafonté?

In 3 words, geology, geography, and site. Phil (husband Dr Phil Freese, Wine Growing Partner at Vilafonté) liked the soils he saw; old clays suffused with small pebbles. This combination would restrain the vines from excess growth and the clay would provide a source of moisture for the vines, but they would have to “work” to get it. After looking deep into the soils – physically, through soil pits throughout the site, he felt he could grow small vines that would each carry restricted but intensely flavoured fruit. Our 40 hectare site has a diversity of aspects, elevations, and soils, plus our four red varieties and all taken together gives diversity of flavors, very “layered” wines.

Finally, we have the cooling breezes of the maritime climate of the Cape. People ask how we chose to grow wines in the Cape; we say, “the Cape chose us” – after visiting it seemed that the confluence of characteristics were perfect for growing the great wines we hoped to achieve.

What is the best way to express the Vilafonté site in your 2 wines?

Several years of winemaking each individual hectare as a “stand alone” revealed the diversity of expression of the Bordeaux varietals on our property. The Cabernet and the Merlot each expressed two different styles: deep, concentrated wines, and opulent showy wines. I was concerned that blending them together, we would achive an “average” and lose the specific personality, so I suggested two wines, each highlighting a single style, and the Vilafonté Series wines were born.

Vilafonté Series C - all lined up

Series M showcases the wines with forward fruit, expressive, engaging aromas and fleshy textures. Experience has shown Series M is generally made from our Malbec, the fleshy Merlot, with some structured Merlot, and the Cabernet blocks that tend to be more open and opulent.

Its “alter ego”, Series C, draws together the Cabernet blocks with deep, complex aromas, potent flavors and rich but firm tannins. Our powerful Merlots add some flesh, and elegant Cabernet Franc, finesse and fragrance.

What is your philosophy behind blending these two wines?

The site was chosen to grow wines of power and finesse. We attend to each hectare block of wine grapes as an individual, and due to differences of soil, aspect, etc, they are indeed each a specific personality. Then the challenge has been to tailor the winegrowing and winemaking to each to bring out its best qualities; I think of them like children in a classroom…helping each to reach its potential.

The job of blending is to find how they fit together to enhance, rather than overwhelm, or overlay, each other. We are looking for complementarity among the wines, not competition…using each to create a seamless, harmonious whole. I know from many years of blending that I favor wines that have a purity, a seamlessness, combined with a sense of depth; deep flavors that I can sense, and that over time will emerge, and hopefully explode into a mouthful of sensations. The blends when young, especially the Series C, have an underlying intensity that makes them restrained, with delicious fruit, but still restained, like a runner at the blocks, waiting for the signal to race forward…intense, powerful. And we want them to run the long race….provide pleasure over many years.

What is the most odd thing you have ever eaten?

In Spain, tiny braised baby eels, each with 2 eyes looking at me. I couldn’t finish them.

Best place you’ve travelled to in the last 5 years

The Vilafonté vineyards

South Africa; it is extraordinary, as travelers around the world are discovering and we spend 2-3 months a year here.

Last wine you drank

A Chene Bleu 2007 Abelard, from a 60 year old Grenache and Syrah vineyard , belonging to a client of mine in the Rhone Valley of southern France.

Favourite musical artist?

In South Africa, artist Johann Louw….art is music to me

Elsewhere, David Hockney, for the same reason

You can have one date with anyone in the world, anywhere – who, where, and what will you be drinking?

I would like to have had a date with Linus Pauling, the great American scientist who won two Nobel prizes, one for science and one for peace. I would have met him in central Oregon where he was born, near my birthplace, to find out how he came to be who he was, and to do what he did. We would have met in his hometown, in a bar (cowboy country) probably over steak and beer.

Continue the sentence:

Spring…..forward.

Cats or dogs?

Both, and horses too.

Zelma Long, Vilafonte Winemaking Partner

'Series M' 2005 gets a great review

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 19:07:00 +0200

South African wine guru Christian Eedes recently reviewed the Vilafonté 'Series M' 2005 in this very positive and kind review. This wine gets re-released in August 2013 as part of our celebration of the slow and rewarding maturity developing in our wines.

400 bottles still available.

R1,250 per bottle

20% discount for 'Members'

More info@vilafonte.com

http://www.whatidranklastnight.co.za/what-i-drank-last-night/vilafonte-series-m-2005/

Vilafonté winemaking partner Zelma Long presenting with French winemaking legend Michel Rolland

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 23:00:00 +0200

Creative energy well spent - Michael Fridjhon's article in Business Day July 19th 2013

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 17:27:00 +0200

THE art of getting people to pay more for a wine than the quality immediately evident from sipping the contents of a glass is the business of the spin doctors. Brand value is the difference between what you taste and what you believe you are tasting.

Any premium extracted from the consumer is largely a measure of the success of the marketing department. If — like me — you are invested in the business of blind tasting, you maintain that stripping away all information except for what is contained in the glass eliminates the marketing message. No brand information means that the encounter is unmediated by spin. However, even the most astute of blind tasters cannot say with certainty how a wine is going to evolve. At best, he may be able to give a calculated guess.

The sumptuous Vilafonté Series M 2005 - by Michael Fridjhon

You need to know who made the wine, where the grapes were grown, and how wines from this particular site evolved in the past to be able to estimate what time has in store. If you know the pedigree, you are better able to predict the potential.

Vilafonté is a property and brand that has been in the market for more than a decade. It was built up by Zelma Long and Phil Freese, Americans who are widely regarded as two of the most influential and technically competent people in the world of wine. They oversaw the preparation of the soil, chose the rootstocks, selected the clones and made the wines. Few projects in South Africa can match the intellectual and creative energy that has gone into its development.

What Vilafonté has not had until recently is a track record — a way of assessing whether this effort has been invested in the right site.

The release from the property of select older vintages will now partly address this — and the 2005 Series M, which I tasted recently, suggests that for those who invested on faith and a close examination of the producers’ track record, the waiting is almost over. The wines have always had polish, but now they are showing enhanced complexity without any loss of detail or freshness.

The inclusion of one of the Vilafonté wines in the New World offering of the White Club (Vergelegen, Epicurean, Waterford, Columella and Compostella are the other South African names being served at this, reputedly the world’s eighth-most-exclusive club) is a further vindication of the project.

In a winery not 100m from the Vilafonté facility in Stellenbosch, another ultra-premium brand — called 4G — is produced under the direction of one of South Africa’s best-known wine makers, Giorgio dalla Cia, previously cellar master at Meerlust.

A preview vintage was made in 2009, with the first official release (priced at R2,999 a bottle) launched more than a year ago and now officially sold out. A second label, Echo, is available at R1,199 and the next 4G (the 2011) is due out shortly.

Despite high scores from the US-based Wine Spectator, there is little to guide the punter (or, more aptly, the investor) other than 4G’s ultra-premium packaging: not an abundance of tasting samples and, as yet, no track record. Its nominal "sold out" status is a tribute to the reputation of Dalla Cia, the presentation, and the drive and energy of the team responsible for marketing the admittedly minuscule quantities.

Is 4G mainly smoke and mirrors? Has Vilafonté’s aged wine release answered the questions about a wine that was launched several years ago at £50 a bottle for the Series C and £30 for the Series M? Don’t look to blind-tasting results for the answer: the wines are immaculately made. Likewise, don’t assume the price premium is only marketing hype. As potential transforms, the hopeful traveller approaches a destination. He has an inkling of a vision largely invisible at the outset, but which now appears to be the place to which he was always heading.

Ten days to go till our official August library re-release of Vilafonte Series M 2005

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 13:08:00 +0200

The inevitable passing of time brings maturity – which can inspire a sense of confidence. The fifteen-year evolution of the Vilafonté story has been characterised by a measured approach. Not slow, not rushed, but deliberate. Each vintage has been a chapter, with a specific truth, but the focus has always been on the bigger narrative.

Work in progress - the captivating Series M 2005. Coming soon ...

It is no revelation that our roots have delved deeper, our efforts more established and that embedded knowledge affords the tools to more successfully navigate each season. The passing of time brings experience - which is everything.

Our wines evolve too. The early character of great wine can be misleading. We are easily seduced by youth. Opulent primal fruit is appealing and by its very nature, we find it difficult to resist. But there is more. As we find ourselves delving into our vintage library, our raison d'être becomes ever more apparent. Bouquets of primary fruit yield to more complex and evolved flavours. The emerging experience becomes more intriguing. More dramatic. The character of our ancient vilafontes soil becomes inevitably imposed on our wines.

And so, the Vilafonté team presents for your consideration our long-term vision to re-release our older vintages. We invite your interest in our first offering, the Vilafonté Series M 2005.

Mike Ratcliffe

For Vilafonté

Vilafonté Series M 2005

52% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon 17% Malbec

Release date: 1st August 2013

Release limited to 500 bottles

Available in 2 or 6 bottle presentation packs

Price: R1250 incl. vat per bottle

(Vilafonté Club Members receive preferential pricing)

For further details: sophia@vilafonte.com 021-8864083

Blending the exceptional 2013 Vilafonté wines before they go back into French oak barrels for another 14-18 months

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 16:32:00 +0200

Congratulations to The White Club! Voted the 8th most exclusive Members Club in the World by CNN Travel

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Wed, 5 Jun 2013 10:01:00 +0200

Vilafonte 'Series C' has again been included in the 'TOP 100 WINES IN THE WORLD' for 2012 by Wine & Spirits Magazine in the USA

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:27:00 +0200

Vilafonte Wine Club Vertical Tasting hosted by Harry Viljoen and Mike Ratcliffe

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Fri, 7 Dec 2012 16:05:00 +0200

Would you sell your family heirloom engagement ring in exchange for a seat at an exclusive South African dinner that includes Bordeaux First Growths?

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Thu, 8 Nov 2012 17:38:00 +0200

By Kim Maxwell

The thought occurred as I pondered who spends R15,000 to R20,000 without flinching on one night of top wines and food. But then The White Club isn’t geared at you and me. Essentially it’s a very exclusive supper club, its members a jetsetting group of individuals with limited time but unlimited air miles and funds. They have very exacting tastes - they like the best - and they’re used to having what they want. This non-profit club funds their taste for fine food and Bordeaux First Growth wines. The thrill is in sitting around a dinner table with rare wines and 15 other likeminded companions. This week in Cape Town; next month Mumbai or Tokyo. What does it take to be accepted? “You have to be a good dinner partner,” says The White Club’s Malene Meisner.

Meisner is CEO alongside president Rene Dehn. These two wineloving Danes facilitate it all from Basel. They are employed to make themed wine dinners happen in different cities, and spare no expense and effort in pre-selecting and purchasing the right wines beforehand (South African tasters were involved in local selections). They even bring their Zalto stemware along. A high-end concierge service is on offer too. It works like this. If any of The White Club members fancy a private chef’s table at a sought after restaurant, and want to drink a wine or vintage not on the list, they’ll make it happen.

What would you pay to taste six South African red wines against rare Bordeaux First Growths and international icons? Last weekend The White Club members and local guests paid dearly for the pleasure at The Saxon in Joburg, Delaire Graff Estate and at The Taj Hotel in Cape Town respectively. The Saxon wines included Mouton Rothschild 1928, Latour 1925 and Lafite 1961, at a R20,000 tag. The Taj R15,000 dinner included younger French vintages (including the likes of Pétrus 1997, Cheval Blanc 2001, Margaux 1998, Latour 1991, Haut Brion 1995 and 1986). From South Africa Waterford The Jem 2007, Columella 2009, Vergelegen V 2007, Vilafonté Series C 2005 and Series M 2009, Epicurean 2006 and MR de Compostella 2008 were thrown into the mix at both dinners. Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2007 also featured. The Delaire Graff Estate meal cost a mere R5000, including six South African reds alongside Cheval Blanc 1999, Vega Sicila Unico 1998 and Pétrus 2001.

I joined a few journalists over lunch at The Taj to hear more about The White Club. We felt lucky to have Lafite 1995, Vega Sicilia Unico 1998 and Latour 1988 poured as leftovers. The best lunch flight pitted Château Petrus 2001 (a bottle sells upwards of R16,000) with a bold Vilafonté Series M 2009 and an elegant Columella 2009 against an initially subdued Château Margaux 1998, opening with redcurrant notes. The plush tannins, spice and velvet richness of the youthful Pétrus was my standout wine, Columella second choice. Dehn was whispering in my ear at the time. “Our reference is Bordeaux left and right bank for these tastings. In that context South Africa is producing fantastic red wines. But the diversity of South Africa’s varieties is a huge plus. You’re making good red blends, Cabernet Sauvignons, some great Pinot Noirs. Some local Chenins I’ve tried are among the top 20 in the world.”

Dehn’s advice for SA wines wanting to crack the nod? The White Club only ever serves mature Bordeaux against South African reds. “We’ve tasted the Vilafonté against Pétrus several times to show it belongs. In value Vilafonte is worth one unit. Pétrus is worth 100,” says Dehn. Only two or three per cent of South African wines feature on overseas wine lists and he says that’s a problem. “Your wineries are not managing to keep stock of their wines. Our members want to drink older vintages.” Are any winemakers listening?

Vilafonte boss Mike Ratcliffe pictured at Cape Wine 2012 with Aileen Lee of Fine Magazine in China

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Mon, 8 Oct 2012 20:16:00 +0200

Melvyn Minnaar on the 2012 Nederburg Auction; "Vilafonté Series M 2005 ... competed for top spot..."

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Wed, 5 Sep 2012 11:14:00 +0200

To revitalise custom when age sets in, and tradition treads water or sinks, is tricky. The annual Nederburg Auction, to be 40 years old in a few years’ time, is certainly a Cape winelands institution. But the last decade or so has been one of starts and stumbles to reinvent the excitement it had for the first quarter of a century. Once the place and event to be invited to – as wine producer, buyer or dazzling socialite – recent years have been ho-hum in all fields: the party, the prices – and plenty of the wines.

All that chopping and changing, and the daft add-ons (fashions shows, music, odd food, whatever) often seemed like ad hoc marketing strategies: panic in the face of the success by the Cape Winemakers Guild young-ones, who got buyers to pay outrageous prices for their wines. As if silly high prices were the be-all and end-all of quality or innovation.

That the wines on offer at the Nederburg were not always the kind of stuff that suited the tradition of prestige didn’t help. (Probably too much producer politics and corporate intervention.) Boring.

Any way, if the cheerful tasting this week of some of the wines in the upcoming September auction is any indication, the Nederburg Auction may have turned the corner – at least as far as wine custom is concerned. On balance, most of the 52 wines offered to media and some trade people were fair game for auction.

Of the Nederburg offerings, none could be questioned. In fact, some of the best wines tasted, were the Nederburg auction specials: the Private Bins and the noble late harvests. This is thanks to cellar master Razvan Macici, who has been looking after the enormous Nederburg portfolio for eleven years.

The line-up of Nederburg wines, made for the auction, is a key factor in the business of the event, and some 27 are on offer this year, including those Private Bins which have historical stature. Judged from the 14 we tasted, Macici’s wines are going to play an important role in the turn-around of the event.

With a track record of ten plus years, his wines can now play the role that they should in the original reason for the auction: to offer wines of age that are truly excellent, with even more maturation potential.

The Nederburg Private Bin R115 (shiraz/cabernet sauvignon) 2000, for example, was one of the finest at the tasting and has plenty of aging ahead, The Nederburg Private Bin Edelkeur 2007, beautifully balanced and bright, promises to be one of the famous of the famous. The sauvignon blanc 2010, under the well-known, if eccentrically-numbered D234 Private Bin mark, may well develop wonderfully as well, and the Private Bin R163 2004 cabernet sauvignon is one to keep and watch.

Other white stars of the tasting going on auction include sauvignons blanc from Delaire (2009) and Durbanville Hills Biesjes Craal (2008), Rustenberg’s sensual roussanne 2008, and the Stellenrust 45 chenin blanc 2009.

Among the reds, Vilafonté Series M 2005, and the gloriously Burgundian Groot Constantia pinotage 2000 competed for top spot with the mentioned R115. The old Chateau Libertas 1968 was sensational beyond its curiosity value - heaven knows how much more than the reserve price of R3 000 for the single six-bottle case this will fetch at auction.

The latter is really what the Nederburg Auction ought to be all about: heritage, authenticity, elegance and superb winemaking that outlives the present. If decent prices are part of the deal, that’s fine, but not the only or ultimate measure.

Carina Gouws, overall in charge of Distell’s wine business, hinted at this at the tasting, as strategy for the turn-around. So finally, perhaps, the 2012 Nederburg Auction ‘of rare wines’ may well live up to custom. It’s the wines, stupid!

From GRAPE http://www.grape.co.za/users/melvyn_minnaar/blog/2012-08-02-auction_action_last.html

Sunday Times wine-writer Neil Pendock rates Vilafonte 'my best red' at the Nederburg Auction 2012

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Wed, 5 Sep 2012 11:07:00 +0200

There are 52 cards in a standard deck and 52 wines in the Nederburg Auction media, chefs and trade tasting in Paarl this morning (below). Is there a message here somewhere?

My best red was the Vilafonte M 2005 blend called “immediately delicious” by tasting host Dave Hughes and my best white was the Oak Valley Chardonnay 2009 with tight lime and tangerine flavours and excellent balance. The pH of 3.11 means it should last longer than me. Was this the wine that won a gold medal as well as a “commended” rating at the International Wine Challenge a couple of years ago? Oops!

Some lovely quotes. From Nederburg cellarmaster Razvan Macici (below) “in my early days I used to swim and now I look like a submarine…”

On the Almenkerk Sauvignon Blanc 2009 Dave noted “I don’t get elderwood [in the tasting note of auctioneerAnthony Barne], but then I don’t know what elderwood is… a lot of wine from Elgin is not as good as the fruit that goes into the winery.” Clearly not the case with Almenkerk.

Best dessert was the Nederburg S316 Weisser Riesling NLH 2001 with its definite Riesling character overlaid with marmalade and orange peel although the wine to buy for young people is definitely the Edelkeur 2007, “the most awarded wine ever made by Nederburg” according to submarine Macici. To end, a glass of 1929 KWV Port (below, left) and six cases are offered. Incredible.

From Sunday Times http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/pendock/2012/08/01/pre-auction-tasting-at-nederburg/

Michael Fridjhon recommends Vilafonte 'Series M 2005 for the Nederburg Auction 2012

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Wed, 5 Sep 2012 11:01:00 +0200

This year’s Nederburg auction, on September 28 and 29, comes at the end of a week of wineland festivities, the (more or less) biannual bash called Cape Wine. This showcase, organised by Wines of South Africa to drum up exports, brings buyers, advisers and wine writers to the Cape in their droves and gives them a feel for South African hospitality and a sense of our wine country.

This is the ideal time for the longest running of our fine-wine auctions to assume its place on centre stage. However, after the preview tasting of more than 50 wines destined for the sale (roughly one third of what is on offer), I’m not sure I understand the logic of the selection.

A panel is delegated to sift the auction wines from a mass of entries from many of the country’s leading cellars. Nederburg, which foots the bill for (or at least a chunk of the cost of) the event and needs to sell its auction range at the sale, apparently submits its wines to this process. You would expect that if there were to be a few affirmative inclusions they would be here — where the big volumes of Nederburg wines come to market.

This was, however, not the impression that emerged from the preview tasting. Most of the Nederburg wines were comfortably in the same bracket as the samples from the smaller, independent wineries. Instead, it was the very unevenness of the classes that left many tasters a little confused about how the selection had been put together.

The big parcel of the Nederburg Sauvignon Blanc — the Private Bin D234 2010 — was the best of the six Sauvignons at the tasting. It just pipped the Kleine Zalze Family Reserve 2009, and looked good in the company of benchmarks such as the Diemersdal Eight Rows. However, it was streets ahead of Almenkerk’s 2009, which showed reduced eggy notes and a sugar level (6.9g/l) vastly too sweet for the category.

With the Chardonnays, there was a similarly confusing pattern in the six samples at the preview. The Nederburg parcel D270 2009 was not the best (pole position here went to Oak Valley’s 2009), but it was decent enough. However, I’ve tasted better Chardonnays from the Nederburg cellar and many better current release Cape Chardonnays.

The Delheim Sur Lie 2009 was pretty ordinary; the Spier Private Collection 2007 palpably sweet; and the geriatric Jordan Nine Yards 2007 visibly on its deathbed.

There was an excellent Chenin — the Stellenrust "45" 2009 — and the usual brilliant array of dessert wines, unfortified and fortified. The Nederburg Edelkeur 2007, the Eminence 2001, an unbelievable 1977 Edelkeur and the extraordinary KWV Port 1929 (the highest-scoring wine at this year’s Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show) are all there with a message in the bottle for the foreign visitors at Cape Wine.

Then came the red wines, and while there were several impressive samples in the line-up, more of a mixed bag would be difficult to imagine. A really good Plaisir de Merle Malbec 2007; an evanescent but finely detailed Chateau Libertas 1968; very good Kanonkop (1994) and Thelema (2004) Cabernets; and some pretty decent Shirazes — most notably Hartenberg The Stork 2006 and La Motte 2004 — all vi ed for my attention. In the world of blends, the Vilafonte Series M 2005 and the Rupert & Rothschild Baron Edmond 2001 are both worth tracking down. But there are also several wines to avoid: the Nederburg Bin R104 Petit Verdot 2001 was flat, tired, porty and well past its sell-by date. The Perdeberg Rex Equus 2007, the Auction Crossing Shiraz Viognier 2005 and the Nederburg R115 2000 did nothing to lift the average. In short, judging from the preview, this year’s auction may appeal more to the gambler than the wine collector: shop with care or buyer beware.

a great archive pic of Zelma Long & Michel Rolland at the Masters of Wine event in Bordeaux

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:51:00 +0200

Vilafonte and Warwick Wine Club Tasting at Tintswalo, Waterfall Estate, Jo'burg

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:58:00 +0200

Vilafonte join the ranks of Royalty - from wine.co.za

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:18:00 +0200

Wine lovers will be thrilled to hear that six South African wines now form part of the exclusive ‘First Growths’ tastings, held by an international private members club, The Parmigiani White Club (TWC).

Each year this exclusive club conducts tastings all over the world and earlier this year, for the first time ever, South Africans were introduced to the ‘First Growth’ wines series. As the wine world is ever-evolving, today the term ‘First Growth’ has come to mean not only to Bordeaux wines, but indeed ‘wines of the most exceptional quality’.

The internationally acclaimed non-profit private members' club, TWC, confirmed that the six South African wines that professional tasters picked to form part of the ‘First Growths’ series are, MR de Compostella 2008 (97), Vergelegen V 2007 (95), Villafonté Series M 2009 (95), Waterford Estate The Jem 2007 (96), Epicurean 2006 (95) and Columella 2009 (95), and will all be introduced on the tasting nights. These will accompany the legendary Vin de Constance from Klein Constantia.

It comes as no surprise that South African wines are ranked among these illustrious ‘First Growths’ wines and we are delighted to host two tastings in SA this year. We promise to those attending that the evenings will be unforgettable, glittering black tie experiences,” says CEO f the exclusive Wine Club International, Malene Meisner.

“Wine lovers have recognised that wines from the South African Cape Winelands rank among the best in the world and guests will have the exclusive opportunity to taste some of the world’s best wines, champagnes and sparkling wines as ‘First Growths’ are considered among the most sought-after wines in the world,” Meisner concludes.

Over the past few years some of the top South African restaurants and hotels have regularly found themselves among the top 50 restaurants in the world. It is thus gratifying to know that South Africa’s culinary expertise is keeping abreast of the country’s winemaking expertise. After all, wine and food are inseparable twins.

The Parmigiani White Club will travel to Vienna, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Istanbul, Mumbai, Zurich, London, Madrid, Chicago, New York and Burgundy, where the six SA wines will be introduced to wine tasters and wine lovers from all over the world. The Club looks forward to host an elite dinner and tasting in Johannesburg on the 25th October at The Saxon. Cape Townians will also be treated to an exclusive dinner and tasting at The Taj on the 26th and on the 27th October TWC will host a lunch at Delaire Graff Estate.

The language of wine is internationally understood, and these six wines will prove to be the most worthy ambassadors.

For further information on The White Club and the tastings visit: www.thewhiteclub.com

Vilafonte comes top in Bordeaux Blend tasting

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 23:24:00 +0200

Some of South Africa's most illustrious wines came together in the 'Top 12' Bordeaux blend tasting at La Mouette recently. Both Vilafonte wines performed excellently with the Vilafonte 'Series M' 2009 performing beautifully by coming first in the tasting. The detailed results and individual scores for each wine are displayed below. More info here.

Vilafonte vineyard manager Edward Pietersen with Gauteng sales manager Marcelle Nickloes

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:52:00 +0200

Christan Eedes on Vilafonte - the 2009's

mike@warwickwine.co.za (Mike Ratcliffe) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 07:18:00 +0200

Vilafonté is a joint venture between Mike Ratcliffe of Warwick in Stellenbosch and American husband and wife Phil Freese and Zelma Long, Phil an accomplished viticulturist and Zelma equally skilled as a winemaker. The property is in the Simonsberg-Paarl ward and there are two wines under the Vilafonté label, Series C and Series M. The 2009 vintage was recently released. Scores and tasting notes below: Series C 2009: 18/20 Price: R450 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, 8% Malbec. Very expressive on the nose with notes of cassis, violets and attractive oak. The palate displays super-concentrated fruit, fresh acidity and fine tannins. Full bodied but perfectly proportioned. Plenty of weight and power but the wine is entirely in balance and retains great drinkability. Series M 2009: 17/20 Price: R350 46% Malbec, 32% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc. Ripe dark fruit and vanilla on the nose. The palate is rich but not unduly weighty. Snappy almost tangy acidity, tannins smooth but not slippery. A voluptuous wine, the high proportion of Malbec lending a slight wildness. General observation: Prior to the 2009 vintage, the Vilafonté wines have always been serious but rather deliberate and imposing. What is striking about the new releases is that for all their intensity, they still have refreshment value.