Rudger van Wyk

Rudger van Wyk’s New Dawn 2024 Solo Project Reviewed – Tasting His Maiden Red Releases…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

After an illustrious few years as head winemaker at Stark-Condé in the Jonkershoek Valley, which also involved launching the dynamic joint venture of Kara Tara, in partnership with Jose Condé, in 2023 Rudger decided it was time to spread his wings and fly off to new pastures.

Following a succinct appointment process with Doolhof Winery in Wellington, he is now settled in there producing some very exciting wines for both Doolhof as well as himself. I recently review Rudger’s highly accomplished New Dawn Chenin Blanc 2024 (96/100 GSMW) and now take a look at two of his newly released reds.

New Dawn Red Blend 2024, WO Western Cape, 13.5% Abv. 

This more accessible red blend from Rudger van Wyk is made up of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Shiraz, 27% Grenache, 11% Cinsault and 5% Carignan. While youthful and incredibly willing, the aromatics are forward, lifted and generous showing a medley of red berry fruits, sweet red cherry, strawberry compote and creamy raspberry nuances. Texturally supple and very elegant, the vivacious acidity combines with a crunchy red berry fruit intensity to make this wine seriously delicious, with purity of fruit and silky elegance its true highlights. Accessible and juicy, this wine is good to savour on release and over the next 5 to 6 years. 

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

New Dawn by Rudger van Wyk Dark Leap Red Blend 2024, WO Western Cape, 13.5% Abv.

Rudger van Wyk’s maiden red release from his New Dawn project is a tantalising Southern Rhone-style red blend of 58% Syrah, 20% Carignan, 17% Grenache and 5% Cinsault. A vibrant bright cherry red in the glass, the aromatics are incredibly pure and bright showing a crystalline vitality and precision. Incredibly perfumed and lifted, the nose is tightly packed with notes of lavender and white flowers, glacé red cherries, cranberry, and saline hints of black currant. Medium bodied, concentrated and intricately structured, there is a real core of energy to the wine driven by a tangy fresh acidity and tart bright red cherry and red currant fruits with silky soft powdery tannins and long, mouthwatering finish. This wine shows serious winemaking prowess with its weightless intensity, harmonious elegance, and a piercing focused length. Unforced and effortless, this is a cracking new label debut from Rudger that’s worth tracking down. Drink now to 2034+. 

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The New Dawn wines are imported into the UK by South African specialist merchant Museum Wines.

Stark Conde Winery Releases One of Their Most Exciting Vintages to Date – Tasting Their Incredible 2021 Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The Stark Conde winery is located in the Jonkershoek Valley ward of the Stellenbosch region and up until 2023, the wines were produced by Cabernet Sauvignon magician, Rudger van Wyk, now head winemaker at Doolhof in Wellington (and who is also producing his own label “New Dawn” … that I will review soon.) I often state that a winery’s quality and ambition can be most easily judged and assessed based on the quality of their entry level offerings, and for the Stark Conde winery, their Estate Cabernet Sauvignon forms one of the most important wines in their range.

Owner Jose Conde and the Stark Conde Winery often describe themselves first and foremost as a premium Cabernet Sauvignon producer and of course why wouldn’t you when your vineyards are situated on some of the most attractive Cabernet-friendly Stellenbosch terroir in the Western Cape. So it is always interesting to taste their Estate Blend Cabernet Sauvignon new release as any winery is only as good as its most modestly priced wine. With the release of the phenomenal 2021 vintage, I was expecting some real fireworks from Stark Conde and thankfully, I was not disappointed.

Stark Conde Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.

Undoubtedly one of the best ‘value for money’ premium Cabernet Sauvignon’s produced in the Cape, the highly anticipated 2021 vintage has finally landed and what a beauty it truly is. Dense, dark, and opaque in the glass, this vibrant vintage boasts incredibly lifted, perfumed aromatics packed full of rose petals, violets, potpourri, baking herbs and dried bay leaves, before plush intense notes of saline crème de cassis, graphite, cherry pipe tobacco and iodine hints emerge. On the palate, there is an incredibly sensual, creamy soft textured mouthfeel full of juicy blueberries, black cherries and tart black currant with fine, supple, pliable tannins beautifully framed and enlivened by a juicy, electric mouthwatering acidity. The weightless concentration of black and blue fruits is mesmerising, revealing a fine boned, seductive minerality and a long, pure, fresh berry fruited finish. This wine is simply knock out beautiful, so moreish, so mouthwatering, and so incredibly drinkable now but will of course age effortlessly for 10+ years with its perfect balance of extract and freshness. Wow! What an unbelievable value offering.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Stark Conde wines are available in the UK from specialist merchant Museum Wines at £99 IB per 6 or £23.60pb inc. on their special release offer.

Stark Conde’s New Single Vineyard Three Pines Syrah 2022 Rated and Reviewed…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

This premium estate in the Jonkershoek Valley of Stellenbosch continues to produce not only exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon based reds but also some incredibly seductive Syrahs. This 2022 single vineyard expression would have still been made by previous winemaker extraordinaire, Rudger van Wyk, who departed the estate at the end of 2023. 

The impressive Stark Conde vineyards are located in the picturesque and dramatic Jonkershoek Valley, a site with steep changes in vineyard elevation ranging from 150 to 600 metres making for a range of terroirs with distinct characteristics. At Stark Conde they stick to traditional winemaking methods using open tank fermentation, meticulous sorting of grapes, hand-punch downs, basket pressing and maturation in small French oak barrels.

One of the three pine trees overlooking the Syrah vineyard.

Stark Conde Three Pines Syrah 2022, WO Jonkershoek Valley, 14.5% Abv.

This new release spent 18 months in French oak, 40% new, as well as a portion in concrete. The aromatics are fresh and lifted, packed full of fragrant violets, purple flowers, blueberries, black berries, earthy currants, before deeper notes of hoisin plum sauce and savoury grilled meats. The concentration is notable, the glycerol mouthfeel broad and fleshy with a brûléed vanilla pod spice, a tangy creme de cassis concentration and savoury blueberry fruits over subtle brûléed mocha notes on the finish. Polished and suave, this is an impressive wine for the 2022 vintage. Drink on release and over the next 8 to 10+ years. (3,344 bottles, certified organic.)

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Stark Conde wines are imported into the UK by specialist South African importer Museum Wines.

Stark Conde Release Another Impressive Single Vineyard Oude Nektar 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Produced from one of the most spectacular single vineyards in the Cape winelands, I was fortunate enough to visit this special site in March 2023 just as winemaker Rudger van Wyk was preparing the Oude Nektar 2019 for release in the local South African market. I am of course a big fan of the Oude Nektar 2015 and 2017, and now in its sixth vintage post replanting after the vineyard was destroyed by fire in 2009, the 2019 is beginning to show the true potential of this high-altitude Jonkershoek Valley vineyard. Having tasted the phenomenal 2017 again recently, this 2019 is certainly a vintage that will rival the great 2017 bottling which is starting to close down for a few years of slumber.

The 2019 is an expressive blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Petit Verdot (a small barrel selection of non-Oude Nektar estate grown Petit Verdot was blended into the wine) from clones 169 and 23, planted on 101-14 rootstock, yielding 5.5 tons of fruit per hectare.

Rudger van Wyk with the Oude Nektar vineyard behind his right shoulder.

Based around the highest elevation vineyard on the estate, which at 550m is arguably one of Stellenbosch’s highest Cabernet vineyards, the Oude Nektar site has very stoney decomposed granitic soils, and an ideal aspect toward the afternoon sun. Although this vineyard gets a cooling breeze, it averages 45 minutes more sunlight each day which allows for a slower ripening period. This 2019 blend was matured for 20 months in French oak barrels (70% new) before being bottled with no fining and no filtration.

Stark Conde Oude Nektar Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, WO Jonkershoek Valley, 13.5% Abv.

There is no doubting that the Oude Nektar 2015 and 2017 were soaring creations of note. But when you taste the 2019 block buster from Rudger van Wyk, you realise that this is yet another epic wine where the vintage and vineyard held hands to give the winemaker something really very special to work with. The aromatics are classical and beautifully straight laced with notes of rose petals, violets, pencil shavings, grilled herbs, black berries and raspberries bursting to the fore before hints of smoky fireplace embers, sweet tobacco leaf, iodine and graphite nuances. An intense full-bodied palate is simultaneously lithe and light on its feet with a striking elegance and a vibrant core of earthy black currant and black cherry fruits embraced by silky soft powdery tannins. An impressively regal Cabernet Sauvignon with a sensual core of fruit, bright integrated acids and a supple, harmonious saline finish. A beautiful wine with class written all over it. Drink from 2025 to 2045+. (Only 3,275 bottles produced.)

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Stark Conde wines are exclusively imported into the UK by Museum Wines. The Oude Nektar 2019 is available on limited allocation by special request. Contact Daniel@museumwines.co.uk for further information. Retail price is circa £60pb.

Prodigious Stellenbosch Red Wine Producer Stark-Conde Release a Block Buster Chenin Blanc 2021 from Jonkershoek Valley Fruit…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The back label of this wine says it all. It starts by proclaiming … “Chenin Blanc is a relatively rare varietal in our area of Stellenbosch, but the higher, cooler slopes and granite soils are well suited to producing an intense, mineral style.” We are of course talking about the Jonkershoek Valley, a Ward of Stellenbosch more famous for Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah than Chenin Blanc. But with some super famous Chenin Blanc wines like Mev. Kirsten from Sadie Family Wines, Ian Naude’s Old Vine Series Chenin Blanc and Chris Alheit’s Nautical Dawn all coming from various other top Wards of Stellenbosch, the potential for producing block buster Chenin Blanc wines around Stellenbosch is unquestionable.

Self-taught American cellarmaster Jose Conde (who’s married to the owner Hans Schroder’s eldest daughter) first attempted making wine in 2000, and he chose to experiment with his favourite grape, Cabernet Sauvignon. As luck would have it, his father-in-law Hans Schroder farmed arguably the best Cabernet grapes in the region. Made with basic equipment and using traditional methods, the maiden vintage yielded just 2,400 bottles, but against the odds and to everybody’s surprise the wine went on to win 5-stars in the Platters Wine Guide, rated 92/100 points in Wine Spectator, and was selected by UK wine writer Oz Clarke as one of the Top 20 Wines of the Year. I remember this wine very well as I was one of the first wine merchants in the UK to buy and sell it in the early 2000s. And a cracker it was too!

Winemaker Rüdger van Wyk

Today, the team at Stark-Conde includes the prodigiously talented winemaker Rüdger van Wyk who creates fine wines using minimal intervention in the cellar. With vineyards ranging in elevation from 150 to 600 metres above sea level, the Stark-Conde estate offers some incredibly fine red wines of distinct character and sense of place and this new 2021 Chenin Blanc is no different. The winery also produces a well known white field blend which I look forward to tasting and reviewing soon.

Monk Stone Chenin Blanc gets its name from the large boulder which punctuates the organically grown, high-altitude vineyard block at Stark-Conde. This bush-vine Chenin Blanc vineyard is planted along dramatic terraces which were sculpted to prevent rain erosion. The wave and ripple patterns formed by these terraces, together with the large boulder, recall a traditional Japanese rock garden, and hence the name “Monk Stone”.

Stark-Conde Monk Stone Chenin Blanc 2021, WO Jonkershoek Valley, Stellenbosch, 13% Abv.

7.6 g/l TA | 3.10 pH

A beautiful rendition of Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc that initially shows a youthful reserve before slowly opening up with aromatics of yellow orchard fruits, granitic minerality, dried green herbs, tangerine peel, green pear and saline oyster shell maritime hints. The minerality and salinity are front and foremost on the palate that shows all the classic 2021 vintage characteristics of purity, clarity, freshness and intensity. Loaded with electric tension, vibrantly fresh acids, the wine reveals a tart juicy green fruited melon concentration and again, an abundance of pithy minerality and rock salt salinity on the persistent finish. Deft winemaking on display here complemented by exceptional vintage quality. Drink this on release and over 8 to 10+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The wines of Stark-Conde are available to trade and consumers from their UK importer:

https://www.museumwines.co.uk/product/stark-conde-monk-stone-chenin-blanc-south-africa-2021 for £24.99 per bottle.