2023 Bondar Adelaide Hills Chardonnay

Highly Rated
A deep love of Adelaide Hills Chardonnay is fully realised here by winemaker Andre Bondar. Gorgeous. Pure. Chardonnay.
4.4
Rated 4.4 out of 5 stars
7 Reviews

Price:
Sale price$40.00
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Sold out
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Description

Since his time working at Nepenthe, Andre Bondar has loved Adelaide Hills Chardonnay. Now, with his own label, he has the chance to make it just the way he likes it.

He found a cool little vineyard in Echunga, at 400m ASL, had the fruit picked by hand, pressed it as whole bunches and sent it to barrel and ceramic eggs to ferment at its own pace. Nine months later, this gorgeous little wine emerged. For a guy who owns a vineyard in the heart of 'big reds' country, Andre Bondar knows his way around a Chardonnay as well as anyone.

This release is pure and taut without overt oak or artifice. A truly lovely wine and yet another success for this impressive McLaren Vale outfit.

95 points
"Lime and lime rind, floral, nutty and spicy, almond and white peach. It’s a lively wine, excellent intensity, a bold and juicy cut of acidity, so much zing, yet folded into gently creamy nutty and biscuity folds of savoury goodness. There’s a slight struck match character, and the finish is all sweet lime and spice, with terrific length and saline spicy character. Classic fine-boned Hills Chardonnay here, and so lovely."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

The Chardonnay is hand-picked, then immediately pressed, long and slow using oxidative handling. Fermentation is allowed to occur with the native yeast at warm temperatures to encourage mouth feel and nutty, complex flavours. There is one new Stockinger demi-muid (~25% of the blend), the rest of the barrels are older French. Once the primary fermentation is finished, we top the barrels full and leave them unsulphured for much of the winter. In 2023 they all went through MLF in this time. The barrels are all sulphured by August (their only addition) and they remained in oak until December before being blended to tank to meld, and then bottled in February 2024.

Region: Adelaide Hills, SA
Blend: Chardonnay (100%)

95 points - "Lime and lime rind, floral, nutty and spicy, almond and white peach. It’s a lively wine, excellent intensity, a bold and juicy cut of acidity, so much zing, yet folded into gently creamy nutty and biscuity folds of savoury goodness. There’s a slight struck match character, and the finish is all sweet lime and spice, with terrific length and saline spicy character. Classic fine-boned Hills Chardonnay here, and so lovely." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

Customer Reviews

4.4
Rated 4.4 out of 5 stars
Based on 7 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 4 Total 4 star reviews: 2 Total 3 star reviews: 1 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
7 reviews
  • PT
    Peter T.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    1 year ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Loved this wine

    Medium bodied and delicious. Perhaps the best Adelaide hills chardonnay I can think of!

  • CS
    Catherine S.
    Verified Buyer
    3 years ago
    Rated 4 out of 5 stars
    Solid body weight but well balanced

    This is well received for the slow to recover chardonnay trend it’s a fruit driven but elegantly weighted chardonnay

  • AR
    ADAM R.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Cork Dork
    4 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Cork Dork
    Rated 3 out of 5 stars
    Good value, but nothing outstanding

    OK, so for $33 it is good value. But its not a 97 point wine no matter what James Halliday says! For an extra $12 the A. Rodda chardonnays are in a different league.

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Bondar Wines

Andre & Selina Bondar are one of the great modern Australian wine success stories. We have been massive fans of their wines since their very first vintage and tell anyone who will listen that if you want to taste what modern McLaren Vale wines are all about then this is who you need to try.

Their home block, the highly decorated Rayner Vineyard, which straddles the Blewitt Springs and Seaview sub-regions of The Vale, was originally planted back in the 1950s but the Bondar family chapter in that vineyard's story will be its most significant. Dre and Sel's wines are honest and vibrant, built more on freshness and digestibility rather than raw South Australian power.

They make brilliant, vibrant Grenache, balanced and concentrated Shiraz, elegant Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, and one of the country's most bankable Rose wines plus a raft of small-batch alternative varieties. Their range nails quality and drinkability at every turn.

Andre & Selina Bondar - McLaren Vale, SA Discover Bondar Wines

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