PANE E VINO - THE NEW FOOD & WINE BAR AT THE VILAFONTE WINERY IS NOW OPEN.

Famous Dutch journalist visits Vilafonte

We had a very interesting visit this week from Jan and Yvonne Rook - influential and extremely well travelled wine journalist from Holland whose www.flyingwinewriter.com www.wijnplein.nl websites are one of the most influential wine mediums in Dutch industry. His comments are published daily to the site and are read but a dedicated trade following of almost 3000 people. He was funny and interesting and provided so many amazing stories of his travels around the world. It was a pleasure to be around such experience. have a look at the video that we filmes - Jan said that he is usually the one doing the interviewing and that he was unaccustomed to having a wine producer interview him ... we like to turn the tables.

The Vilafonte Winery launch live on SABC TV

The New Winery Launch

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Harvest Team 2007

From LTR:

Bernard le Roux (winemaker), Edward Pietersen (Viticulturist),

Zelma Long (Winemaking partner), Phil freese (Viticulture partner),

Mike Ratcliffe (managing partner), Ronald Spies (Viticulture manager)

The Vilafonte winery is almost finished.

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More footage of the amazing state of the art Vilafonte winery taking shape in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Vilafonte is South AFrica's first luxury wine brand as well as being the first ever joint-venture between South Africa and the United States.

Tags: wine, luxury, vilafonte, freese, zelma, broadbent, ratcliffe, parker, sexy, south, africa, stellenbosch, podcast, blog, vlog, video, harvest, decanter, spectator

Introducing Vilafonté Team members

Dear Team Vilafonté and friends,
It gives us pleasure to introduce two members of the Vilafonté team.

Edward Pietersen (left) has joined our team as Winegrowing Manager working directly under Phil Freese, Winegrowing partner. Edward is responsible for our babies, the vineyards, on a day-to-day basis and has a huge responsibility in this sense. He brings a level of commitment and an obsession with quality that has been embedded into his psyche by Phil. You will be hearing much more about Edward in the future. edward@vilafonte.com

Bernard Pré Le Roux (right) joined the Vilafonté winemaking team in August 2005 as Winemaker working directly under Zelma Long, our Vilafonté winemaking partner. He brings excellent experience from Hamilton Russel and Tokara and has been a huge asset to our team. His attention to detail and unwillingness to compromise are his hallmarks which are exactly what is required at Vilafonté. Watch this space! bernard@vilafonte.com
They are pictured here last week receiving the GOLD medal at the Classic Wine Trophy, the only wine competition in South Africa judged solely by French sommeliers.
Best wishes,
Mike, Zelma and Phil

The Vilafonté winery - latest pictures December 2006

The Vilafonte winery is taking shape

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The next video of the upcoming Vilafonte winery in Stellenbosch. Things are really taking shape and it is looking good!

Tags: south, luxury, freese, africa, series, stellenbosch, wine, vilafonte, long, zelma, ratcliffe