Thursday, March 24, 2011

Vilafonté cleans up again in the USA with Stephen Tanzer


2007 Series C Paarl (74% cabernet sauvignon, 11% merlot, 9% cabernet franc and 6% malbec; aged for 25 months in 94% new French oak):  Full bright ruby.  Crushed cassis, licorice and violet on the nose, complicated by minerals, mint and graphite.  Juicy, intense and weighy, with a downright 3-D texture to its black fruit, bitter chocolate, mineral and mint flavors.  This powerful and extremely unevolved wines needs time to harmonize its firm, slightly spiky tannins.  Should be a knockout in five or six years. 91(+?)

2006 Series C Paarl (54% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot and 6% cabernet franc):  Full ruby-red.  Sexy, sweet aromas of dark berries and chocolatey oak.  Dense, plush, sweet and fine-grained, suavely combining its chocolatey merlot and cassis-and-herb cabernet sauvignon elements.  Offers a bit less violety lift (cabernet franc?) than the 2007 but this is bigger and more generous today, not to mention more harmonious.  Finishes suave, broad and long. 92

2006 Series M Paarl (43% cabernet sauvignon, 39% merlot, 15% malbec and 3% cabernet franc):  Bright ruby-red.  Merlot-dominated aromas of plum, chocolate, mocha and lead pencil.  Fat, broad and sweet, with a slightly medicinal quality to the plum and herb flavors.  Finishes with rather serious tannins that call for at least a couple more years of bottle aging. 90

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