We all know that exceptional vintages have the ability to yield exceptional wines. Just think of 2000, 2005, 2009 and especially 2010 in Bordeaux, and perhaps 2004, 2009, 2015, and 2017 in the Cape. Without doubt, 2021 was another extraordinary vintage with ample winter rains followed by an unusually cold and wet spring and early summer. In an era of global warming and extreme weather events, getting a vintage like 2021 in the Cape must surely be a winemaker’s dream. So many I have talked to have described making wines that they feel they may never get the opportunity to make again due to the unusually cool, slow ripening conditions.
At Vilafonte in Paarl, flowering was largely even with good fruit-set, boding well for not only a healthy crop but also an ample crop. Early season growing temperatures were cool to moderate, warming gradually towards ripening, with a lack of February / March heatwaves a very noteworthy feature of the vintage. Berries were supple-skinned, bursting with flavour, showing a vibrant freshness and bold tannin structures. Harvest began on February 11th under mild weather conditions that continued for the remainder of the season. The resulting wines show a piercingly perfumed intensity, deep inky colours, sophistication and poise. The Series C is scheduled for a 1st November 2023 global release.
Vilfonte Series C 2021, WO Paarl, 14.5% Abv.
The Series C 2021 is another sumptuous Cape Bordeaux Blend made up of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 10% Malbec and 7% Cabernet Franc that was aged for 22 months in 81% new French oak 225 litre barriques, with the balance aged in used French oak barrels. Winemaker Chris de Vries was very excited by the berry flavour complexity at harvest time and when you pull the cork on this wine, the 2021 vintage displays an incredibly vivid, overt, beautifully lifted, piercing array of perfumed sweet violets, iris, cherry blossom, potpourri and incense with a delicate dusting of cocoa powder and vanilla pod spice. With the cool fruited aromatic ebb and flow, delicious notes of saline black currant, black cherry, crème de cassis, sandalwood, cigar wrapper, and cinnamon spice slowly develop, all pristinely pure and fabulously intense. Medium bodied, tightly wound and layered, the sleek supple mouthfeel truly typifies the very finest premium reds produced in this classically cooler vintage. Indeed, I cannot quite recall another vintage in the past two decades quite like it, with such sweet well-rounded tannins, fresh piercing acidities and magnificently weightless, crystalline tart red and black berry fruits on the velvety, seamless palate. The jury is out on whether this is the greatest Series C produced by Vilafonte to date simply because the astounding 2016 was such a uniquely brilliant creation. Needless to say, a wine of this beauty and precision will undoubtedly be counted as one of the finest reds of the vintage. Drink on release and enjoy over the next 20+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Vilafonte wines are imported into the UK by John E Fells and are available retail from South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.