Stark-Condé Wines — Attraction in Stellenbosch Local Municipality

We had such an amazing experience at Postcard Cafe and thoroughly enjoyed the Sauv Blanc we had with our lunch, so I decided why not do a quick tasting and maybe take a couple bottles home.

However, when I looked at my watch I noted it was 15:45 and the sign indicated that wine tasting closed at 16:00.

I know I was taking a chance, but I tentatively approached the ladies behind the reception desk and said "sorry I know it's late, but is there anyway I could squeeze in a quick tasting?"

I would have been perfectly happy if they said, "Sorry Sir, our tasting runs X minutes long, and as such we don't have enough time to provide you with the full experience".

Instead what I was greeted with was three ladies looking at their watches before looking at each other to see which of them would flinch first and tell this guy it's too late and we have places to go on a Saturday evening.

The delayed response and clearly dismissive body language, gave me all the answer I needed and before they could reply, I informed them not to worry and walked back to my wife.

While I was explaining the experience to her, one of the ladies proceeded to shout at me from behind the counter and proclaim that if I wanted to, they could do the smaller three-wine tasting experience with me.

Needless to say, due to the chilly reception I initially received, I declined their offer.

This type of response and service though is not unique to Starke-Conde, but is simply an example of what I am afraid has for the most part become of South Africa's service industry. Too many jaded employees who don't prioritise excellent service and going the extra mile, but rather only care about themselves and the impact work has on their own personal time.

None of those ladies knew who I was, and could have been anyone, maybe someone who might have been very grateful for the extra effort and rewarded them with a generous tip - guess...

We recently visited Stark-Condé for a wine tasting as we were looking for a Syrah and we heard that they had a good one. The farm is nestled in the Jonkershoek Valley in Stellenbosch and the road leading up to it is beautiful, as you are surrounded by trees, farmlands and mountains. On the farm they have a restaurant which I have previously visited, but I haven't been there in a while so not sure how it is now (it was very busy so it seems to be popular, though). The Wine Tasting center is located in a small building on a deck in the middle of a large pond with a walkway leading to it from the restaurant area. There are also some beautiful trees surrounding the Wine Tasting center which makes for perfect photo opportunities. Their tasting room is small with a deck surrounding it, providing some inside and outside seating options. The day we visited it was raining so most of the outside seating wasn't usable and the inside seating area was packed. Luckily they found a table (we were only 2 adults and a toddler) outside under the roof for us. They have a couple of wine tasting options with their standard tasting allowing you to choose 5 wines to taste including Rosés, Whites and Reds. Their wines are a little bit pricy, but definitely worth it and I am glad to say their Syrah lived up to the hype. Sipping on their delicious wines while taking in the surrounding beauty, and then all of a sudden it starts raining - all I can say is, the experience was...

Even though the tasting room closes at 16h00, don’t you dare arrive 5mins after the decreed 15h30. You’ll get turned away by a tasting room attendant with decidedly unhelpful attitude. A bad way to waste a beautiful Friday afternoon.

[We went back last Sunday as I wanted to taste their Field Blend - even though we did make a booking through the restaurant, the tasting room attendant didn’t know about it and seemed put off by this. AGAIN we got attitude and preciousness instead of a warm welcome. Wines were unremarkable (even the Field Blend was not early as good as previous years and the previously tasty and good-value Pinot Noir had a pronounced green taste more commonly found in unripe Merlot). Somehow, despite the drop in quality, prices have shot up to almost double what they used to be.

We used to enjoy visiting this winery (in particular for the views), but with the unwelcoming attitude and the steep hike in prices for underwhelming wines, we won’t be back. Fortunately there are many other wineries who manage to make seriously good wines at fair prices and still have the great Cape knack of making guests feel...