Stark-Condé Wines

The story of Stark-Conde begins with a marriage that apartheid tried to forbid. In the 1960s, South African Hans Schroder was studying at a university in Japan when he met and married Midori Maruyama. Their union contravened the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, so the young couple settled in Tokyo and raised three daughters — Marie, Lisa, and Miki — over the next thirty years. In the late 1980s, as the end of apartheid drew near and Nelson Mandela's release became imminent, Hans and Midori decided it was time to return to South Africa and be part of the transformation.

In 1989, the family purchased Oude Nektar, a farm in the Jonkershoek Valley just three kilometres from Stellenbosch town. Eldest daughter Marie and her American husband Jose Conde relocated to join them. It was Jose who would become the winemaker. In 1998, working in a storeroom on the property, he hand-crafted his first Cabernet Sauvignon — the maiden vintage of what would become Stark-Conde Wines. The name itself is a marriage of family names: Stark from Hans's mother's family and Conde from Jose.

The Jonkershoek Valley is a distinctive terroir. Annual rainfall averages roughly 47 inches — nearly double the Stellenbosch average — and the southeasterly summer winds reduce disease pressure while naturally limiting yields. These conditions produce Cabernet Sauvignon of particular intensity and structure, and it is Cabernet that defines the estate. The flagship Three Pines range — named for three pine trees on the hilltop overlooking the winery — draws from high-elevation vineyard blocks for both Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah of concentrated, site-specific character.

Jose Conde's winemaking is deliberately traditional. Grapes are hand-picked and carefully sorted, fermented with natural yeasts in open-top tanks with manual punchdowns around the clock, then aged up to 22 months in French oak. Most wines are bottled without fining or filtration. Total production is around 10,000 cases, with 80% red. Beyond Cabernet and Syrah, the portfolio includes Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc, and a white Field Blend of Roussanne, Chenin Blanc, Viognier, and Verdelho.

The tasting room sits in the middle of a lake, offering panoramic mountain views. The Postcard Cafe operates on-site. The Postcard Cafe, open Wednesday through Sunday, provides food alongside the tasting experience, and the entire setting — lake, mountains, vineyards — makes for one of Stellenbosch's more memorable winery visits. For a winery born from a cross-cultural love story and a storeroom experiment, Stark-Conde has become one of Stellenbosch's most respected Cabernet Sauvignon producers and a quietly powerful emblem of what South Africa's post-apartheid wine industry could become.