The mystical Vilafonté vineyard.
The mystical Vilafonté vineyard.
Image: Supplied/Vilafonté

The International Wine and Spirits Competition has recognised Vilafonté, a small Stellenbosch winery, as the Global Best Red Wine Producer of the Year. The IWSC sets the international benchmark for quality where industry experts, buyers, sommeliers, distributors and producers judge, and find, the best alcoholic beverages in the industry. SA wines triumphed the southern hemisphere competition earlier in 2021 with 549 medals awarded.

“Our small Vilafonté team is stunned by this IWSC recognition from one of the longest-running international awards — a true honour for our SA winery to be counted amongst the greatest producers in the world,” said Michael Ratcliffe, co-founder, and managing partner.

Vilafonté is a unique winery founded by the SA and US wine specialists Dr Zelma Long, Dr Phillip Freese and Michael Ratcliffe, who describe their farm as “different by design”. It is named after the ancient villafontes soil, which concentrates the fruit with smaller vines and lower yields.

Vilafonté Series C 2019 vintage.
Vilafonté Series C 2019 vintage.
Image: Vilafonté

This tremendous achievement comes harmoniously as Vilafonté celebrates its 25th anniversary with a release of the Vilafonté Series C 2019. The vilafonte terroir grows two distinctive styles of wine; one portion produces a fruit-driven rounded style while the other produces a bolder and structured style, series C and Series M respectively.

The anticipated, and now internationally lauded, release of the new Vilafonté Series C 2019 vintage is a limited production blend. The firm and concentrated style was harvested from their most revered blocks and blended for longevity, consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon (56%), equal parts Merlot and Malbec (20% each) and Cabernet Franc (4%).

Series C 2019 releases on November 1 2021, and is available to purchase here.

© Wanted 2024 - If you would like to reproduce this article please email us.
X