Description/ Tasting Notes
This displays the violet/cassis/black cherry notes this vineyard is known coupled with the fine elegant tannins for which the Jonkershoek Valley is known.Winery Info/ Brand
Stark-Condé Wines is located in the picturesque Jonkershoek Valley in Stellenbosch. It is a dramatic valley with steep changes in vineyard elevation from 150 to 600 metres, making for a range of sites with distinct characteristics.Winemaker, José Conde. At Stark-Condé we stick to traditional winemaking methods: open tank fermentation, meticulous sorting of grapes, hand-punchdowns, basket pressing, and maturation in small French oak barrels.The higher elevations and textured soils of the Jonkershoek Valley are ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals. Jonkershoek wines are often described as elegant, lush fruit and fine, soft tannins.Crafting wine requires patience and the crazy belief that the shortest line between two points may not always be the right one. Careful barrel maturation is the key to the elegant style of wine for which Stark-Condé is known.The unique Stark-Condé tasting room is small and intimate and is built on its own little island. Visitors have a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains and vineyards.
Region Info/ Origin
The Jonkershoek Valley site is located in a mountain catchment in the Cape Floristic Region and is the source of the Eerste River. The site was originally dominated by Boland Granite fynbos and Kogelberg Sandstone fynbos with patches of afrotemperate forest. From the 1930s, first order catchment experiments were established in the valley by the Jonkershoek Forestry Research Centre (JFRC) under the auspices of the South African Forestry Research Institute (SAFRI). The catchments were sequentially planted to pine species. Gauged weirs were built in the experimental catchments. Long term records exist for five gauged pine planted catchments and one natural fynbos catchment. The Swartboskloof catchment, located in the Jonkershoek valley, was the site of fire experiments in the 1970s and 80s.
