Vilafonte

Vilafonté is the first American and South African joint wine-making venture. This ground-breaking red wine project is a partnership between a respected group of wine specialists from South Africa (Mike Ratcliffe) and the United States (Zelma Long and Dr. Phil Freese). The name Vilafonté is derived from the primary soil type of the 100-acre estate.  Recorded as one of the oldest soil types in the world (somewhere between 750 000 and 1.5mil years old), this character forms the foundation of these wines The age of the soil is important as it is deeply evolved and has been stripped of much of its inherent capacity, that encourages smaller vines, lower yields and highly concentrated fruit.

Vilafonté produces only 2 wines: Series C (a Cabernet driven Bordeaux blend) and Series M (a Malbec/Merlot based Bordeaux blend)

 Vilafonté is named after vilafontes, one of the more unique soil types in our vineyard. Vilafontes is one of the oldest recorded soil types in the world and has been defined as being somewhere between 750 000 and 1.5mil years old. The age of the soil is important as it is deeply evolved and has been stripped of much of its inherent capacity, with a low production potential that encourages smaller vines, lower yields and highly concentrated fruit.

One of the defining characteristics of our vineyard is the presence of stone age cutting tools on the surface of the soil. The origin of these tools has been attributed to a prehomosapien branch of human evolution called homo-orgaster, who roamed Southern Africa more than 750 000 years ago. The presence of these tools on the surface of the soil is even more remarkable given the fact that our region has never experienced glaciation or volcanic disturbances which have left the soil undisturbed.

Our 42 hectare (100 acre) property is located in the Paarl region in the shadow of the Simonsberg Mountain. Since inception, Vilafonté has focused its attention on only four noble Bordeaux varieties, which have found a natural affinity for our site. The varieties planted are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and one of our most exciting discoveries, Malbec. Our 16 hectare (40 acre) vineyards are unique as one of the highest density planted vineyards in South Africa. All the grapes in our Vilafonté wines are grown on our property.

The Vilafonté project presented an opportunity to grow great wines; from the ground up, investing all the knowledge and experience we gained in our decades of growing and making wine. We chose South Africa for this opportunity. I thought that great wines could be made here, in fact that the “calling” of the Cape was to make great wines for the world. Now when people ask why we chose South Africa, we say: South Africa chose us.” – ZELMA LONG