Anybody who knows about the SA wine industry knows Mike Ratcliffe. The son of Norma Ratcliffe – a pioneer of winemaking women in South Africa and founder of Warwick Wine Estate – Michael launched his own brand, Vilafonte, over twenty years ago. Fine wine critic Carrie Adams sits down with Ratcliffe, to discuss establishing a brand in a short period of time, ‘in a world where there are millions of labels and just a handful of brands’. – Jarryd Neves
Mike Ratcliffe on the upcoming harvest:
It’s a big, industry wide issue – especially in the bulk wine industry. You might actually be interested to know not just that there’s a problem, but where the problem started. The way the industry works is that grapes are harvested in January, February and March. Our biggest export markets are in the Northern hemisphere – Europe in general and the UK.