"This is the violet hour, the hour of hush and wonder, when the affections grow again and valor is reborn, when the shadows deepen magically along the edge of the forest and we believe that, if we watch carefully, at any moment we may see the unicorn." - Bernard DeVoto, "The Hour".
This wine is available on our Allocations List program, where you can subscribe to receive an annual allocation of this and/or some of our other wines. For more information please click here
“The Violet Hour is a flag in the ground for the Bondar style, where perfume is favoured over heft, and the fruit and site take precedent over winemaking artefact” – Young Gun of Wine, 2023
“Bondar’s Violet Hour Shiraz 2021 is, at $32 and 97 points, not only a beautiful McLaren Vale Shiraz but a contender for the Best Value wine of the year. It’s an insight into the stunning consumer-friendly story that is Bondar.” (Halliday Wine Companion 2024)
2021 Vintage - 97 points James Halliday
"Sourced from Rayner vineyard estate plantings dating back to 1947. Uncoils itself like a snake after a nap on a sunny afternoon, the colour rich and deep, as is every aspect of the wine on the lustrous bouquet and palate. Yet it's also a tapestry of silk and velvet, a little more than medium bodied. Bargain bonanza."
2020 Vintage
97 points James Halliday
Top 100 Wines 2021, James Halliday (The Weekend Australian Magazine)
“Sourced from Shiraz plantings dating back to 1947 ex the Rayner Vineyard. A beautiful wine in every dimension – its crimson colour, haunting perfumed bouquet, caressing the mouth with its perfectly ripened fruit, superfine tannins, and subtle but relevant oak. One of the great bargains.”
2019 Vintage
BEST ‘FULL FLAVOURED RED WINE’ 2019 Drinkeasy Awards
2018 Vintage
97 points James Halliday
Top 100 Wines 2019, James Halliday (The Weekend Australian Magazine)
“Fruit from Shiraz vines up to 70 years old, planted on our Rayner Vineyard on the southern edge of Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale. This wine pays homage to the Bondar style with fragrance and a lightness of touch. We used whole bunches and extended time on skins, which helps to create that lightness, and adds dimensions of flavour and a silky mouth feel. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and minimal additions, aged in older French oak, Violet Hour should improve with grace over the next five years to ten years.”
2016 vintage:
BEST SHIRAZ at McLAREN VALE WINE SHOW 2017
BEST SMALL PRODUCER at McLAREN VALE WINE SHOW 2017
BEST SINGLE-VINEYARD SHIRAZ at McLAREN VALE WINE SHOW 2017
BEST SHIRAZ 2016 OR YOUNGER at McLAREN VALE WINE SHOW 2017
2017 vintage:
JAMES HALLIDAY 97 POINTS
