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Bondar Violet Hour Shiraz 2022

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Bondar Violet Hour Shiraz 2022
Producer Bondar
Region, Country McLaren Vale, Australia
Bottle Size 750ml
Case Size 6
Product Code 22993-750

Named after the evocative sky beneath which Andre Bondar and Selina Kelly picked the last Shiraz bunches for their first-ever release of this wine, Violet Hour is a blend of fruit from 10 blocks in Bondar’s Rayner vineyard. Each block has a different aspect and soils range from deep sand with ironstone rocks to clay over limestone. The Shiraz vines are some of the oldest on the property, reaching 70 years in some blocks—a key to understanding the depth and detail this wine can express.

Violet Hour encapsulates the Bondar style—fragrance, juicy fruit and lightness of touch. The winemaking is adapted to the season; both whole-bunch and destemmed fruit are used and the juice spends varying times on skins, depending on the block. The wine sees seasoned oak only, usually for 10 months. The result is a seemingly effortless, transparent and deeply expressive wine that perfectly captures site, season and the Bondar style.

Similar to 2021, vintage 2022 was a relatively cool season in McLaren Vale and facilitated a long, even and stress-free ripening period.  The result is a joyously fragrant and spice-driven Shiraz with svelte structure, bright acidity and length for days.

Bondar Violet Hour Shiraz 2022

Reviews

“Deep purple from core to rim. Blueberry, chocolate and cola aromas. Dark fruits, crushed violets and subtle pepper spice notes meld seamlessly with fine acid and dusty tannins to carry it long and lingering. A more modern style of McLaren Vale shiraz that offers a lighter touch, but still has that Vale sense of generosity. Great value here.”
92 points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review
“Fragrant and vivid, this comes off Rayner vineyard blocks planted mainly to deep, sandy soils. Batches are fermented with varying levels of bunches, berries and time on skins; 10 months in seasoned oak. The aim is to express the perfume that sandy soil can yield in the fruit, framed but unobstructed by elaboration to bottle. And what a success it is. Blackberry, blueberry, cherry and damson plum scented with purple florals, anise and clove, a ferrous mineral note tempering. Mid-weight, supple of texture but shored up with a fine, detailed net of tannin – and that mineral tension – this is harmonious and poised, everything serenely balanced, unstretched. To echo an earlier review, this is a tremendous bargain.”
95 points, Marcus Ellis, The Wine Companion

Reviews

“Deep purple from core to rim. Blueberry, chocolate and cola aromas. Dark fruits, crushed violets and subtle pepper spice notes meld seamlessly with fine acid and dusty tannins to carry it long and lingering. A more modern style of McLaren Vale shiraz that offers a lighter touch, but still has that Vale sense of generosity. Great value here.”
92 points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review
“Fragrant and vivid, this comes off Rayner vineyard blocks planted mainly to deep, sandy soils. Batches are fermented with varying levels of bunches, berries and time on skins; 10 months in seasoned oak. The aim is to express the perfume that sandy soil can yield in the fruit, framed but unobstructed by elaboration to bottle. And what a success it is. Blackberry, blueberry, cherry and damson plum scented with purple florals, anise and clove, a ferrous mineral note tempering. Mid-weight, supple of texture but shored up with a fine, detailed net of tannin – and that mineral tension – this is harmonious and poised, everything serenely balanced, unstretched. To echo an earlier review, this is a tremendous bargain.”
95 points, Marcus Ellis, The Wine Companion

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