Stark-Condé : Oude Nektar Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

There's good drive and energy to this well-balanced, medium- to full-bodied red, with an underlying tang of iron and tar married to the ripe wild cherry and red currant fruit flavors. Accents of dried sage, violet and spice orange play on the chewy finish. Drink now through 2026. 2,000 cases imported.

Full bottle 1,299 g. 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot, 2% Malbec, 2% Petite Sirah, 1% Cabernet Franc. Cabernet clones CS46C, CS163C, CS27A, 10C, 1C on 110-Richter and 99-Richter rootstocks. Vine ages: Cabernet Sauvignon 17–29 years across four different vineyards, Petit Verdot 15 years, Malbec 12 years, Petite Sirah 12 years and Cabernet Franc 18 years. All fruit from their Oude Nektar farm, Jonkershoek, on decomposed granite soils, at 200–310 m elevation. Harvest dates: Cabernet Franc, late February; Malbec early March; Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah, mid March. Two-day cold soak, then fermentation for around 10 days with indigenous yeasts. Hand punchdowns every four hours for the first half of fermentation, then every 6–8 hours until dry, when the wine was pressed and racked to barrel for malolactic fermentation and barrel maturation, in 30% new, 300-litre French oak. After 20 months in barrel, bottled without fining or filtration. Technical cork. TA 6 g/l, RS 2 g/l, Total extract 30.6 g/l. 59,965 bottles made. Vegan friendly. Lustrous ruby-purple. Violets, wood smoke and roasted black fruit, with a grilled-meat, savoury character. Juicy blackberries, with peppery, grainy tannins and a spicy, toasty finish. A few rough edges, but nice enough. (TJ)