Description
The 2019 Oude Nektar is a Bordeaux-style blend, predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from one of Stellenbosch’s highest vineyards at 550 meters. This vineyard, with its stony decomposed granite soils and perfect afternoon sun exposure, produces grapes that benefit from slow ripening, resulting in concentrated flavors. The wine is aged for 20 months in French oak, with 70% new barrels, ensuring a complex yet refined profile. The Cabernet Sauvignon contributes intense cassis aromas with unique citrus-rind notes, while a touch of Petit Verdot adds depth. Despite the drought conditions, the 2019 vintage yielded low alcohol wines with a perfect balance of fruit, acidity, and tannin, offering a firmer tannin structure yet maintaining the elegance typical of Jonkershoek Valley wines.
Food Pairing: This wine pairs beautifully with grilled meats, venison, or rich stews.
Reviews
Greg Sherwood 97+
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.) [Greg Sherwood MW, 05/06/2023]
Anticipated maturity: 2025-2045
Decanter 98
[Decanter, 12/01/2023]
Tim Atkin 97
What a wine! What a vintage! And to think that this stunning site between 550 and 600 metres was replanted after a fire as recently as 2009. Marrying Cabernet Sauvignon with 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec, it’s one of the great Cape reds. Far from a blockbuster, it’s nuanced and refreshing, with incredible perfume of fynbos and cut grass, fine-boned tannins and a long, stony finish [Tim Atkin, 30/03/2022]
Producer Profile
This signature wine is the bedrock of Stark-Conde, showcasing the excellence of the Jonkershoek Valley. Blended with traditional Bordeaux varietals, it reveals rich blackberry fruit aromas, complemented by tea-leaf and cedar wood notes. The palate is polished and full of dark fruit and mocha flavors, with balanced acidity and a long finish, highlighted by the fine tannins typical of the valley. Aged for 20 months in French oak (30% new), this wine is bottled without fining or filtration.
