Once again, Grenache plays the starring role in Bondar’s Rosé, weighing in at 90% of the blend with the balance Cinsault and Mataro. Most of the fruit comes from Andre and Selina Bondar’s Rayner vineyard, with a small portion of Grenache sourced from an old sandy site in Blewitt Springs. Most Grenache vines at the sandy Rayner Vineyard are 55 years old, with a small block of younger material also included in the mix. The Cinsault and Mataro are grown on the home site.

The '25 vintage was dry, warm and calm. Harvest started early on the 30th of January- 2-3 weeks earlier than usual. A four day-heatwave in February also tested the team, but the fruit held up well on the sandy soils. Harvest was well-concluded by late March. 

Andre used a variety of techniques to build complexity and texture. The young-vine and grower Grenache alongside the Cinsault fermented at cool temperatures to preserve bright, primary characters. Then, for weight, texture and savoury character, the older-vine Grenache from the Rayner vineyard and the Mataro fermented at warm temperatures in old oak. The result is a pure, fresh, layered rosé packed with juicy red fruit flavour, chalky, pithy grip and a refreshingly long watermelon drenched close. 

The Fiano grown in McLaren Vale is prized for its thick skins and high natural acidity. Andre and Selina sourced the fruit from two sites run by the talented Ben Lacey: Lacey Branson Road site in Tatachilla and Lacey HQ block on Olivers Road. Due to its proximity to the sea, Branson block maintains relatively cool temperatures in the warm summer months. The soils are grey-brown loam over limestone, and the thick-skinned fruit holds its natural acidity well. The Olivers Road block faces north with higher summer temperatures and rich red loam soils over limestone.

Picked in mid-February, the grapes were gently pressed to draw out texture from the skins. Fermented in tank with 10% in old oak, the parcels were blended and bottled young to preserve freshness. In Andre Bondar’s words: “it’s fine and fresh, not neutral or boring.” Expect orchard blossom and herbs on the nose, a salty mineral line, and a pithy, textural finish.

The fruit for this wine comes from the Rathmine Vineyard, which sits south of the tourist town of Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. The Bondar family have worked with this grower for over 10 years, making stunning wines from the amphitheatre-shaped site. The vineyard is planted to Bernard 76 clones which are reaching 30 years old. Under the earth, the roots seep through shallow clay into limey rocks and a limestone base—a perfect foundation for Chardonnay.

Andre and Selina hand-pick the grapes and press them slowly, not shying away from oxygen. They ferment with natural yeast in large barrels (25% new) at warmer temperatures to “encourage a richer mouthfeel and nutty, complex flavours.” The wine stayed in oak until December, then moved to tank until February. This has the poise and intensity of topflight Australian Chardonnay down to a tee, with zaps of flinty minerality at the core, wrapped in ripe citrus and stone fruit flesh. An elegant revival of a more textural South Australian Chardonnay, with restraint and precision at its core.

The Violet Hour was the first wine the Bondar family made, and it still holds a special place in their collection. The name comes from a harvest sunset at Rayner Vineyard and proved appropriate for the wine: “It evokes purple velvet and flowers and softness,” Selina says.

This year, that floral note is layered with lush spice from an Eden Valley clone that Andre sought out for its Rhône-like aromatics. All fruit comes from the Rayner vineyard, where vines up to 75 years old sit on deep sandy soils with ironstone over limestone. Multiple blocks with varying aspects get bespoke treatment before blending. Some see whole-berry ferment, others longer time on skins, depending on what suits the grapes best.

The wine spent 10 months in mature oak and was blended in January after harvest. In the Bondars’ words: “we want our Violet Hour to be as transparent as possible, to express our unique and beautiful site.” Red fruit, char spice, and elusive elegance deliver just that.

Crafted from Rayner Vineyard Shiraz planted in 1960, Midnight Hour is Bondar’s Yin to the Violet Hour’s Yang. These vines are the second-oldest vines on the property, rooted in red and brown clay over limestone. The age and soil encourages smaller, open canopies that let sunlight filter through all season, ripening the stems and encouraging supple tannins.

Andre takes his cue from the Northern Rhône. The grapes were hand-harvested and fermented with 90% whole bunches before ageing in old French oak for 15 months. After years of fine-tuning, Selina and Andre are confident in its direction. “It has more tannin and is more brooding,” Selina explained. “It can be a bit dark and more structural,” Andre added. The wine is generous from the first sip, with ripe tannins and cola spice wrapped in silky bramble and forest fruits. Lifted whole-bunch spice carries the fruit without heaviness.

This exceptional Shiraz is drawn from the two oldest blocks in the Rayner Vineyard, planted respectively in 1950 and 1960. Three-quarters of the fruit comes from Block 24 in the northeast corner of the vineyard, on deep sandy soils with ironstone rocks, dry-grown and organically managed. This portion gives wonderful fragrance and elegant structure. The remainder is cropped from Block 1, in the northwestern corner of the vineyard, laying in a cool gully. The latter selection brings “the bones” and structure to the fleshier fruit from the older vines.

The fruit was hand-picked and wild-yest fermented with two weeks on skins. The wine aged for 12 months in two- and three-year-old French oak before a further six months’ aging in large, old foudres. As you might expect, the Ryaner is deeper, more structured, and more age-worthy than Bondar’s Violet Hour and Midnight Hours wines. The restrained use of oak and inclusion of 90% whole bunches ensure this wine shows a freshness to complement the old-vine intensity.  It’s a wonderful, textbook follow up to the 2022 vintage.

This limited release of three barrels comes from fruit off the Lacey vineyard in Willunga, where rocky clay loam soils lie over the revered Kurrajong geology formation. When compared with the Rayner vineyard’s fine sands, Andre tells us that “the soils are more similar to parts of Bandol where they grow on rocks.” The 15-year-old vines are farmed with minimal inputs, and the winemaking follows a similar path, with hand-picking, no additions, and bottling unfined and unfiltered.

More commonly labelled Mourvèdre or Mataro, Monastrell is a hardy, thick-skinned grape that can produce big, big wines, yet Andre Bondar aims for a more finessed style. As he explains, “we found Mataro tends to have a reputation of being a big and tannic beast which is certainly not what we try to produce. Our Monastrell is made to be more medium bodied, yet to have all of the lovely spice and savoury notes.”

To this end, Andre and Selina have found that whole bunches in the ferment bring freshness to the wine and provide “a softer, more ethereal feel.” Bottled without fining or filtration after 15 months in used oak, it possesses a firmer structure than the silky personality of Bondar's other Rayner vineyard wines. That said, it still displays the characteristic fragrance and delightfully light touch of the Estate wines. This Monastrell is remarkably perfumed, with textured fresh fruits underlying more serious spice and depth and a lick of late, chewy tannin from the thick-skinned berries.