Vilafonte

the dream

Vilafonté is the coming together of great wine experience from California and South Africa. The vision that brought together the three founding Vilafonté partners, is the culmination of a life-long dream. A uncompromising determination to produce wines which stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the great wines of the world. Nothing less.

Their enduring philosophy of nurturing a culture of patience in the cellaring and enjoyment of their wine is honoured and facilitated by the terroir of their site – the artistry to create wines of elegant complexity, structure and longevity.

the terroir
Founded in 1997, the 42ha estate on the bench of the Simonsberg Mountains with its unique vilafontes soils, served as the fuse to their vision. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec confirmed its affinity to the ancient soils that has been dated as being somewhere between 750 000 and 1.5mil years old. Planted at high density, these vines adhere to the exquisite struggle; encouraging smaller vines, lower yields and highly concentrated fruit. Vilafonté wines are exclusively from grapes grown on their property.
Although there is much variation in the climate of the Western Cape, the biggest influence on wine growing in South Africa is the presence of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The cooling maritime influence has created what can be described as a Mediterranean climate. Wet and cold winters paired with long dry summers create an extremely favourable environment for the production of fine wine.

33° 47' 38'' S 18° 56' 09'' E
The ancient vilafontes soils on their estate defines their winegrowing philosophy. Noted as one of the oldest documented soil types, a unique defining characteristic of this site is the presence of stone age cutting tools laying on the surface. The origin of these stone tools have been attributed to a branch of human evolution called Homo ergaster (meaning “the working man”) between 1.4 million and 1.9 million years ago. This is the first of the hominid species to make symmetrically shaped tools. Remarkably, as these tools were found on the surface of the soil, it confirms the fact that their region has never experienced glaciation, volcanic disturbances or more recent sedimentary deposits, which have left the top soils undisturbed for millenia.
These healthy but nutrient deficient soils cradle the vines into producing wines driven by character, purity and refinement with a perfect tension ubiquitous to each vintage produced.


the birth of series c & series m
In the formative years, Winemaking Partner Zelma Long noticed that their vineyard was producing two distinctive styles. Both styles were of the highest quality, not one of them better than the other, but distinctive nonetheless. One portion of the vineyard produced a soft, rounded, fleshy and fruit driven style. The other side of our vineyard produced a bolder, more powerful and structured style. It was this realisation that lead to the birth of series c and series m.

INTERNATIONAL WINE AND SPIRITS COMPETITION

Global award based in London

Red wine producer of the year (2021)



Outstanding producer of the year (2021)


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