Series C

Vilafonte Releases Their New 2023 Vintage Series C and Series M to a Chorus of High International Praise…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Every year, one can point to the annual release of the Vilafonte Series C and Series M reds as two of the most important and noteworthy new Cape Bordeaux blends to hit the market. These two wines have, since their maiden releases in 2003, cultivated a committed global following among fine wine connoisseurs and passionate collectors alike. With the focus firmly on premium quality, each subsequent vintage is highly anticipated both in the wine trade and among consumers. The 2023 vintage was obviously a much more complicated harvest for many than either 2022 or 2021 due to persistent rain across much of the Cape, necessitating further clarification of Vilafonte’s picking dates from winemaker Chris de Vries.

“The 2023 vintage reminded us how swiftly light can turn to shadow, and how timing alone can separate fortune from misfortune” Chris de Vries opined. “Outstanding early conditions carried us through harvest, our final lots secured only days before March 4th brought a week of rain that might have rewritten the story entirely.” Picking at Vilafonte began on February 2nd and continued until March 1st, a slightly extended window, shaped by a warm first half of February followed by a cooler close. This shift tempered ripening, allowing balance and freshness to define the fruit. 

Berry weights reflected the season: Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc were modestly smaller than average, lending natural concentration, while Cabernet Sauvignon berries were slightly larger, contributing generosity and an approachable tannin profile. Although March delivered over 60 mm more rain than the norm, the Vilafonte harvest was safely picked before the downpours, leaving the Vilafonte team among the fortunate few who carried the season’s promise intact into the cellar. The resulting wines show a poised tension between ripe black fruit and lifted freshness, framed by fine tannins and a classical structure. “Opulence is tempered by clarity, and the 2023s stand as wines of both immediate allure and assured longevity” Chris de Vries concluded.

Vilafonte Series C 2023, WO Paarl. 14.5% Abv.

The 2023 Series C is a blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 12% Malbec and 7% Cabernet Franc and offers up classic Vilafonte aromatics of sweet black currants, saline crème de cassis, blueberry compote and wet tobacco leaves. Fabulously opulent and exotic on the nose, the wine has all the Series C hallmarks that has made this one of the most desirable Cabernet Sauvignon blends produced in the Cape, brimming with not only intense pure black berry fruits but also complex earthy layers of tilled loam over hints of graphite, dried herbs and warm buttered brown breakfast toast. The palate is sophisticated, silky, and lithe, neither weighty nor muscular, but rather sleek, picante, and spicy with cedar and vanilla pod notes, a dusting of cocoa powder, and a weightless black currant fruit concentration. There is a youthful, sinewy freshness and a tightly wound core of energy that should see this wine age gracefully for a decade or two. 

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Vilafonte Series M 2023, WO Paarl. 14% Abv.

The 2023 Series M is a blend of 41% Merlot, 38% Malbec, 16% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc and displays a seriously opulent, showy Series M plushness and generosity combined with plenty of refinement and purity. The aromatics are vibrant and youthful revealing intense layers of blue and black berry fruits, bay leaf spice, damson plums and black cherry compote with a magical dusting of vanilla pod oak spice. In the mouth, the wine is marked with a fabulously creamy, silky texture, delicate notes of graphite and cocoa powder, saline crème de cassis and mulberry fruits with a pronounced mineral interplay on the complex finish. Once again, I’m super impressed at the intensity, power, and concentration Vilafonte achieves with their Series M cuvee – a wine that epitomises luxury, generosity, and sophistication. Drink on release until 2040+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Vilafonte wines are imported to the UK and distributed to trade by agent John E. Fells.

Vilafonte Release a Truly Exceptional Series C Cape Bordeaux Blend from the Uniquely Cool and Classical 2021 Vintage…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

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.

Vilafonte Excels with Another Impressive Wine of Harmony and Balance – Tasting the New Release Series C 2020…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

After returning from a very successful Cape Wine 2022 wine fair, the tragedies and hardships of the Covid-19 pandemic almost seem a distant faded nightmare. But as I start tasting a fresh wave of exciting new 2020 red releases, the memories of this unprecedented time come flowing back especially when you consider that many producers in the Cape, at the time, feared that they would not be able to even pick their succulent grapes as harvest approached. But if there is one thing wine producers are well versed at coping with, it is extreme disruption and endless uncertainties.

The 2019/2020 growing season brought fair and favourable conditions with a return to a more traditional cold and wet winter. With Spring came warm, fair-weather conditions resulting in an even, two-week early bud-break. As is often the case in the Cape vineyards, windy conditions during flowering resulted in a variable berry set and looser clusters with small intense berries. Thankfully, temperatures during ripening remained modest without any heatwaves, leading to an even, measured pace of ripening and picking. By the time the national Covid-19 lockdown was announced by the national government on the 26th March 2020, Vilafonte had already processed all wines safely to barrel.

Looking back to February 2020, it seems crazy to think that my visit then to the Vilafonte winery at the time would be part of my last visit to South Africa for over two years due to the pandemic. While the overall harvest continued into March, I clearly remember watching multiple trucks offloading the freshly picked Malbec grapes in late February that were tiny pea berry sized, pitch black, perfectly healthy and faultlessly formed. Spirits were high for another exceptional, high-quality harvest.

Vilafonte Series C 2020, WO Paarl, 14.5% Abv.

The 2020 Vilafonte Series C is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 10% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Franc that was aged for 22 months in 68% new French oak barriques with the balance in older used French oak barrels. In the glass, the wine displays an intensely dark, alluring purple black colour and an expressive aromatics of violets, sweet macerated black cherries, blue berries, smoky cassis and touches of Christmas pudding, sweet cherry tobacco, melted liquorice, milk chocolate and ginger cake nuances. There are slight caramelised touches to the aromatics with hints of vanilla pod, clove oil, camphor and sweet cedar spice that melt seamlessly back into the rich, opulent black and blue fruited complexity. Full, rich and elegantly textured, the palate is laden with spicy black fruits, black cherry compote, black currant pastille and intriguing layers of cinnamon spice, salty liquorice and sun raisined blue berries. There in an impressive intensity and concentration on display yet the wine remains fine grained, harmonious and fresh, finishing with spicy, supple velvety tannins and yet more stony, pithy minerality. Delightfully ripe and sometimes erring on the side of hedonistic exoticism, the core essence of this wine is nevertheless built around balance, concentration, purity of fruit and brazen intensity without ever becoming overbearing. A wonderfully individual expression of the vintage, this delicious 2020 continues the Series C’s rock-solid consistency of premium form. Drink from 2024 and comfortably over the next 10 to 12+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Wine Safari New Release Review – Tasting the Resplendent New Vilafonte Series C 2018 Red Blend…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

I am very fortunate that despite almost a year of minimal international travel and intermittent lockdowns, I have been able to taste many of the best wines of South Africa both blind and sighted in my capacity as the lead reviewer for the Fine Wine Safari as well as in the capacity of South African Panel Chair for the 2020 Decanter World Wine Awards. As a result, I have luckily had ample opportunity to get up close and personal with many of the new release 2018 Cabernet Sauvignons and Cabernet based blends and formulate my opinions on the wines that this fourth drought year yielded.

The 2018 vintage was certainly marked by one of the worst droughts on record and presented some significant challenges for all vine growers and winemakers in the Western Cape. With water resources at an all time low and strict rationing in effect, reduced water availability for irrigation led to reduced vine vigour and canopy sizes. Some unseasonable rains and low temperatures in October and November disrupted fruit set and further reduced the number and size of berries on grape clusters.

In the end, harvest timings were close to normal, beginning on February 2nd and continuing uninterrupted until February 27th. Overall, the vintage saw yields contract by -24% following a very generous crop in 2017 and the fruit was marked by berries being on average -25% smaller in size than normal leading to wines with an intense inky colour, piercing concentration and striking fruit richness – the perfect building blocks for another impressive Vilafonte Series C blend.

Vilafonte Series C 2018, WO Paarl, 14.5% Abv.

This new release Series C 2018 is a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 14% Malbec and 11% Cabernet Franc and saw 22 months in 69% new French oak barriques with the balance aged in older French oak. Following in the footsteps of three fantastic vintages in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the 2018 boldly asserts its own character and persona not wanting to live in the shadow of any of its predecessors. The aromatics are opulent and richly fruited with extroverted, evocative notes of violets and black cherry kirsch liquor, crème de cassis, ripe sloes and fresh juniper berries. The youthful fruit brightness is gently caressed by a creamy, seductive veil of subtle vanilla oak spice, cocoa powder, warm brown toast and lightly roasted coffee bean nuances. What many of the very best red 2018 blends show in glimpses, this wine reveals with generous excess. Softly textured and impressively suave and harmonious, the palate is filled with a piercing black currant concentration, salty black liquorice and an attractive vanilla pod spice complexity that coats the palate and grows slowly and persistently in volume, depth and breadth. Not only is one of the true signs of great winemaking marked by allowing a wine to express its terroir, but this must inevitably go hand in hand with the ability of a wine to truly illustrate its vintage in as many vivid colours and flavours as possible. 2018 reds have always shown an incredible translucent purity and sweet fruited concentration, extreme elegance with a compact core of power from day one with the more detailed finery never being obscured by any one single component in the glass. This beautiful Series C is a tremendous piece of winemaking resulting from an ongoing mission of vinous refinement. When all is said and done and we eventually look back on the 2018 wines objectively, I predict that this Series C will stand amongst the top wines of the vintage. Drink on release or cellar with confidence for another 10 to 15+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Vilafonte’s Co-Owner Mike Ratcliffe Unveils the Phenomenal New Release Series C 2016 in London…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

So all it took was a fleeting flying visit to London to give a small select group of wine trade buyers a sneak peak of this exciting new Vilafonte Series C 2016 blend and the hype and excitement was in full swing. Co-proprietor Mike Ratcliffe scheduled this pre-release tasting to allow a few UK market heavy weights a chance to hear about and taste the success story of the 2016 vintage first hand before the official South African launch on the 1st of November.  

The first plantings were made at Vilafonte on their 42 hectares way back in 1995 and at the time included Petit Verdot which was the only one of the five Bordeaux varieties which proved to be unsatisfactory and was subsequently grubbed up. On the plus side, varieties like Malbec proved to be incredibly successful along with the classics of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, all planted on the 750+ million year old low potential “Vilafonte” soils of Paarl.

With the first commercial release now already the 2003 vintage, Vilafonte can no longer be regarded as one of the fine wine new kids on the block but rather one of the leading lights in the premium red wine category in South Africa. To put the new release into proper context, the 2016 was tasted along side an illustrious array of older vintages of both Series C and Series M.

With Co-owner Mike Ratcliffe

Vilafonte Seriously Old Dirt 2014, 13.5 Abv. (Second Label of Vilafonte)

A blend of 41% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Malbec and produced from the same meticulously farmed vineyards as the Series C and M wines, inevitably when you are making complex blends, there will be high quality wine components that don’t make the final Grand Vins, which are instead redirected to the second wine Seriously Old Dirt. The 2014 shows a sophisticated dark broody nose full of earthy black berry, cassis leaf, crushed gravel and blueberry spice. The palate is plush and restrained, full of complex layers of black bramble berry fruit, tobacco spice, graphite and liquid minerality. Very grown up, wonderfully classical and texturally incredibly pure and polished with little oak imprint. A superb introduction to the profound wines of Vilafonte. 

(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 GregSherwood MW)

Vilafonte Series M 2015, 14 Abv. 

40% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Malbec, with 22 months ageing in French oak. 68 barrels produced. The bouquet shows a leaning towards a plummier opulence with liquid graphite, dusty gravel, black cherries, damson plum, brûléed coffee beans and subtle sweet chocolate and tomato puree nuance. The palate texture is incredibly classical and fine, harking back to some of the finest right bank Merlot based blends produced. The finish shows saline plum, cassis, piquant lipstick spice and the most dreamy creamy chocolate eclair generosity. Delicious wine from a very classy, top notch vintage. This is certainly one for the cellar.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 GregSherwood MW)

Vilafonte Series C 2009, 14.8 Abv.

54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 8% Malbec aged 23 months in 100% new French oak. 23 barrels produced. Still an impressively dark garnet red rim, the bouquet resonates with complex notes of wet tannery leather, dusty chew tobacco, dried thyme and sage, espresso, freshly tilled earth and stewed red currants. This big bold vintage is rich and youthful, full of creamy brioche, black currant and sweet black plum notes with cool fresh acidity harmoniously balanced by eminently powerful and bold sweet textural tannins. A vintage regarded as one of the greats and showing very gracefully. In a happy place at the moment but certainly no rush to drink this one.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 GregSherwood MW)

Vilafonte Series C 2014, 14.5 Abv

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Malbec aged 22 months in 70% new French oak. 48 barrels produced. Wonderfully pure, fine and fragrant with a noticeably youthful fragrance of black cherries, graphite, violets and caramelised red berry fruits. A lovely fine hedonistic opulence is present in the glass with the most intricate and expensive oak profile, vanilla pod spice and supple, creamy, polished mineral tannins. Wonderful purity and freshness to behold. Wow, not the most famous vintage for red wine collectors in South Africa but a wine with a surfeit of poise and elegance, purity, focus and harmony. A splendid wine indeed.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 GregSherwood MW)

Vilafonte Series C 2015, 14.5 Abv.

57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 9% Malbec aged 22 months in 67% new French oak. 44 barrels produced. A superbly distinguished classical red blend with a lush opulent bouquet of black cassis, espresso, dried sage, sweet tobacco, graphite spice and buttered brown toast. What a wonderfully proportioned wine that really takes South African red wine quality to the next level. Purity and precision, seamlessly integrated oak with effortless power, concentration and balance. This has all the hallmarks of greatness.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 GregSherwood MW)

Vilafonte Series C 2016, 14.5 Abv.

62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 12% Malbec and 11% Cabernet Franc aged 22 months in 77% new French oak. 30 barrels produced. The most focused and intricate of aromatics, the small, tight, compact black grape bunches harvested in 2016 are accurately captured and represented perfectly in this stunning premium wine. Less distinctly showy and opulent than the 2015 blockbuster at the same stage of its evolution, this is an incredibly finely composed red blend with massive precision but also plenty of curb appeal, revealing fragrant layers of crushed violets, blueberry pie, vanilla pod spice, buttered brown toast, saline cassis, liquid minerality and a graphite complexity. Within a restrained, concentrated style, this vintage represents the most intelligent extraction and tannin management possible reflecting the care required to handle the small, thick skinned berries in this drought vintage. A hauntingly pretty wine that is seriously compact and complete and dare I say a step up in quality on even the spectacular 2015 release. Drink from release or cellar for 25+ years as this wine certainly has the structure and stuffing for the long haul.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)