Vilafonte

Vilafonté was founded in 1997 and is owned by the Ratcliffe Family. The estate sits on the bench of the Simonsberg Mountains in the Western Cape, South Africa, and makes red wine from Bordeaux varieties. The name Vilafonté comes from the vilafontes soils on the estate. Seriously Old Dirt was conceived in 2012 as a second wine in the Bordeaux tradition, and from 2016 the team began sourcing beyond the estate.

The 42ha estate is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec at high density, encouraging smaller vines, lower yields and highly concentrated fruit. Vilafonté's estate wines are made from grapes grown on its own property. Seriously Old Dirt is now a multi-vineyard blend, Cabernet Sauvignon-led and drawn from Vilafonté's estate vineyards together with the Wandsbek, Groenpunt and Merwespont sites in the Western Cape. Arlene Mains has been head winemaker for Seriously Old Dirt since April 2021, with Marko Roux as consulting viticulturist.