Stark-Condé

THE HISTORY 

Stark-Condé is a family-run winery making handcrafted wines using tried and true traditional methods. Owner and winemaker José Conde spent 10 years in New York City and five in Tokyo only to realize that what he really wanted was to live in a small town at the tip of Africa. José’s wife, a South African native, is from a winemaking family. In 1998, soon after José and his wife moved to South Africa to be closer to her family, he established Stark-Condé wines. Total production at Stark-Condé is 10,000 cases, 80% of that being red wines. The family property in Jonkershoek Valley is 600 acres with 85 acres under vine. In addition to being viticulturally ideal, the estate is visually spectacular and attracts visitors from afar. Vineyard elevations range between 500 and 2000 feet above sea level, which provides a correspondingly broad range of fruit characteristics. Today, Stark-Condé is certified sustainable by the Integrated Production of Wine. 

THE LAND 

The soils on the estate are decomposed granite over clay, with a range of textures from light gravel to quite stoney. Jonkershoek Valley is a small ward within Stellenbosch which shows unique characteristics. It is a high winter rainfall area: the historical average is about 47 inches, nearly double the Stellenbosch average. Jonkershoek Valley is exposed to the southeasterly winds in the summer, which help to cut down on the incidence of disease and also serves to hold down yields. Meticulous viticulture, selected harvesting, hand grapesorting, small-batch fermentation, patient barrel maturation — these are the guiding philosophies behind the wines. The carefully-crafted wines speak with personality of a particular terroir. 

THE WINES 

All of the wines are made in a newly renovated cellar space, with the same exacting, traditional techniques that have been the hallmark of Stark-Condé Wines since its maiden vintage in 1998. Stellenbosch The Stark-Condé Stellenbosch wines (The Field Blend white, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah) are made from carefully selected vineyard blocks on the farm’s property in Jonkershoek Valley. Three Pines The flagship Stark-Condé Three Pines range consists of a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Syrah from high-elevation vineyard blocks. The name Three Pines is a reference to the lookout spot at the top of the farm, from which the highest vineyards are visible.