Vilafonte’s Managing Partner is Michael Ratcliffe.

Mike is deeply involved in the global wine industry. Mike qualified as a business major at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa before attending the University of Adelaide and was in the first graduating class for the Graduate Diploma in Wine Marketing. Mike is Managing Director of his family estate, Warwick which is recognized as one of South Africa’s foremost wine estates. Mike also co-founded the first ever South African/American luxury winemaking joint venture called Vilafonte.

Mike is a leader in the Cape wine industry. In 1997 he founded Rootstock - an organisation dedictaed to the upliftment and education of the youth of the wine industry with a practical focus on marketing and management. He was an instrumental participant in reigniting the concept for a “Cape Blend” (Pinotage-blend) which has since become an integral part of the Cape high-end wine offerings. Mike is a board member of WOSA, (Wines of South Africa) the generic export promotion board for the SA Wine Industry and has participated actively on the marketing committee of the Stellenbosch Wine Route. Mike has been keenly involved in black economic empowerment and land redistribution as Deputy-Chairman of the South African Wine Industry trust. (SAWIT)

Mike is a regular international wine judge, industry commentator and marketing coordinator.