{"id":5716,"date":"2014-07-01T10:32:39","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T10:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/?p=5716"},"modified":"2017-03-31T12:54:44","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T12:54:44","slug":"stark-conde-postcard-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/stark-conde-postcard-cafe\/","title":{"rendered":"Stark-Cond\u00e9 & The Postcard Cafe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nestled in the charming Jonkershoek Valley lies the boutique winery, Stark-Cond\u00e9 \u2013 a mere three kilometers outside of Stellenbosch. Stark-Cond\u00e9 is intensively family-run. German father Hans Schr\u00f6der, Japanese-German daughter Marie, and Cuban-American husband, Jos\u00e9 Conde co-own the winery with their two daughters working in the caf\u00e9 at weekends to help. The beautiful setting inspired the name \u2013 the Postcard Cafe. What was intended to attract more feet to the tasting room; a little caf\u00e9 linked to the winery, has now become the winery linked to the Postcard Cafe run by the talented Marie Conde instead.<\/p>\n

Starke-Cond\u00e9 is ideally located for the production of Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varietals, thus it was only a matter of time before award-winning Cabs would emerge from the cellar. Winemaker and co-owner, Jos\u00e9 Conde handcrafted his first-ever Cabernet Sauvignon vintage in 1998 in what was a storeroom of the winery at the time. The four barrels aged gracefully and received five stars by John Platter \u2013 evidently Jos\u00e9 had been destined to be a winemaker and not a graphic designer. Adding to the talent, the farm’s higher elevations and finely textured soils (perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon), made it a painless career change.<\/p>\n

Steep alterations in vineyard elevation make for a range of sites with distinct characteristics. Combined with the tremendous winter rainfall in Jonkershoek, (three times more rain than Stellenbosch) these qualities ensure a more than suitable terrain for growing Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Syrah and Pinotage.<\/p>\n

\"extra<\/a><\/p>\n

With so much room to play, winemaker Jos\u00e9 Conde is able to craft only the finest wines \u2013 each made with great consideration and patience. Stark-Cond\u00e9 has three different brands. The Three Pines range is a single-vineyard, flagship estate selection while the Stellenbosch wines are blends from different vineyard blocks on the estate. The Pepin Cond\u00e9 wines are non-estate premium wines from vineyards outside of the farm.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 firmly believes in traditional winemaking \u2013 handpicking, careful hand selection of the grapes, manual punch-downs, open-tank fermentation, basket pressing, and patient maturation for 22 months in French oak barrels. Because of this approach, unlike commercial wineries, only 6000 cases of wine are produced annually.<\/p>\n

Apart from the beautiful setting and award-winning wines, a visit to their tasting room is well worth taking a drive out to the farm. The unique tasting room, housed in a small and intimate Balinese wooden structure \u2013 built on its own little island \u2013 is the perfect spot for visitors to enjoy the spectacular view of the surrounding mountains, natural vegetation and vineyards. Tastings are personal and intimate, with attention paid to the finer details of each wine.<\/p>\n

Tasting room:<\/p>\n

Open 10:00\u201316:00 Monday to Sunday<\/p>\n

www.stark-conde.co.za <\/a><\/p>\n

tastingroom@stark-conde.co.za<\/p>\n

Follow on Twitter @StarkCondeWine<\/p>\n

021 861 7701<\/p>\n

\n

The Postcard Cafe<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Postcard Cafe’s menu at Stark-Cond\u00e9 Wines is comprised of simple and unpretentious dishes for every palate. The beautiful setting under the trees is sure to encourage any visitor to kickback and enjoy a bottle of the wine from the farm together with some delightful sourdough bread from De Oude Bank Bakkerij. Vibrant plates with the freshest ingredients emerge from the caf\u00e9\u2019s kitchen. Antipasti plates of marinated mushrooms, mozzarella with roasted peppers, assorted cheeses, homemade pork terrine, salami, toasted nuts and greens are always a winner and can be shared between either 2 or 4 people. The pan-fried fish of the day with homemade tartar sauce and couscous salad comes highly recommended \u2013 especially if yellowtail is available. For the meat-lover, there is a not-so-traditional Teriyaki beef burger served with a sweet soy-ginger sauce and rice, which will certainly hit the spot, without the extra carbs. They also make their own fresh juices and sodas \u2013 expect drinks such as refreshing raspberry lemonade to quench your thirst.<\/p>\n

Well-known for their delicious desserts, the Postcard Cafe offers an array of freshly made cakes and bakes. Each dessert is perfected to Marie\u2019s liking. The red velvet cake recipe has been tried and tested to perfection \u2013 Marie sampled cakes from numerous restaurants and caf\u00e9s to find the perfect balance of sweet and spongy, velvety amazingness.<\/p>\n

The caf\u00e9 offers breakfast, lunch and tea. Visitors are encouraged to make a reservation to avoid disappointment.<\/p>\n

Open: 09:30-16:00 Tuesday to Sunday<\/p>\n

www.postcardcafe.co.za<\/p>\n

postcardcafe@stark-conde.co.za<\/p>\n

021 861 7703<\/p>\n

\"extra<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nestled in the charming Jonkershoek Valley lies the boutique winery, Stark-Cond\u00e9 \u2013 a mere three kilometers outside of Stellenbosch. Stark-Cond\u00e9 is intensively family-run. German father Hans Schr\u00f6der, Japanese-German daughter Marie, and Cuban-American husband, Jos\u00e9 Conde co-own the winery with their two daughters working in the caf\u00e9 at weekends to help. The beautiful setting inspired the name \u2013 the Postcard Cafe. What was intended to attract more feet to the tasting room; a little caf\u00e9 linked to the winery, has now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4098,3905],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-visiting","wine_region-stellenbosch"],"acf":[],"brand_slug":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5716\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test10.co.za\/C\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}