Bondar Rayner Vineyard Shiraz 2023

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.