Bondar Rayner Vineyard Grenache 2024

The most high toned and ethereal of the Bondar grenache’s, yet with the succulent oomph and juicy power of McLaren Vale. Lifted red fruits, fresh flowers, fresh herbs, woody notes and pink peppercorns. Medium bodied, intensely fruited, but without the weight of the other wines. Angular and perky, the tannins finessed. Beautiful, almost haunting. Norris at Waters Wine Co

“From vines planted in 1970 on sand in a section of the vineyard that misses the hot late afternoon sun and yields smaller bunches of small berries. About 20% whole bunches; six months in ceramic eggs and old French oak. It’s very early on this, and these are always made to age, but the charm of the vintage has its say. Dried and fresh rose, raspberry leaf, rosemary and dried orange peel across tart raspberry, pomegranate and redcurrant, the ripeness neatly captured for flavour and verve, with a proper line of grape and stem tannin, artfully extracted, pristinely ripe, acidity a guiding vector.” – 96 Points – Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion

Sourced from the western side of our 1970-planted Grenache block on our Rayner Vineyard, where the yields are lower with smaller berries and bunches, and the vines face gently east so miss the hot, late afternoon sun. Planted on sand, this block is dry-grown and managed organically. The fruit is hand-picked.

We really want the Rayner Grenache to be pretty, yet savoury, and generally a more elegant expression of the variety. We believe that this is what our 1970 block wants to produce so we just try to let it express itself as best as we can. To help achieve this we pick a little earlier to catch the red fruits and herb. We use some whole bunch (around 20% in total) for some extra tannin from stalks, which ensures the ageing potential of the wine and provides layers of complexity to the flavours. The wine is fermented and aged for around 6 months in ceramic eggs and old French barrels, before being bottled without fining or filtration. Producer’s Notes