Stark-Conde, Three Pines Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2018

If Rüdger Van Wyk and José Condé were making a red blend (including 6% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec) of this quality in California, they’d be charging three times the price, so fill your cellars and wine racks, folks! From a single-vineyard site at 360m on decomposed granite and clay, this wine is fresh, direct and focused, with no sign of the heat or drought of the vintage. Dense, layered yet very well balanced.