Team C&J
The husband and wife team of Andre and Selina have received numerous awards and recognition in their local Australia, and the company is just ten years old.
If you’re drawn to wine brands that are family-owned and operated, prioritize the use of heritage grapes, and make a great, drinkable wine while they’re at it, then we think you will love Bondar Wines. Andre and Selina are crafting excellent wines in Australia’s famed McLaren Vale, and at a price point that is under $40, the value here couldn’t be better.
Bondar Wines produces boutique wines in Australia’s McLaren Vale. Andre Bondar and Selina Kelly are the husband and wife team behind this young wine brand, and already their bottles of Shiraz, Grenache, and GSM blends, like the bottle of Bondar reviewed in this post, are catching the attention of local critics in Australia, and throughout the wider wine world.
Andrea and Selina started Bondar in 2012. While winemaker Andre Bondar had been involved in the wine industry since 2001, working harvests and making wine at Nepenthe, there was still an unfulfilled desire to make something that he and his wife could call their own. Selina, for her part, spent the first part of her career as a lawyer but was captivated by the wine lifestyle and pivoted to wine marketing to learn about the industry from the inside out.
Nurturing the process of winemaking from the field to the bottle was always the goal for Andre and Selina, so when an opportunity appeared to purchase a vineyard of their own, the couple jumped at the chance.
The vineyard that Bondar would ultimately buy in 2013, the Rayner Vineyard, wasn’t just any vineyard in McLaren Vale. This was a historic piece of land, originally part of the Kaurna people’s ancestral lands, that had been planted with vines in the 1950s. In other words, Bondar’s vineyard was a heritage vineyard.
Rayner Vineyard is located between the subregions of Blewitt Springs and Seaview, and the fields are dominated by Shiraz and Grenache, two grape varieties that thrive in Australia.
In addition to the GSM grapes, Bondar wines also produce a fizzy pet nat of Cinsault, Grenache, and Counoise, a dry rosé of Cinsault and Grenache, a skin contact Fiano, a Nero d’Avola fermented in ceramic eggs, a Mourvedre, and a Chardonnay.
Like so many thriving wine regions, Australia’s McLaren Vale has a Mediterranean climate that grapes love. Located just south of the densest parts of sprawling Adelaide, McLaren benefits from long, dry summer days and cool coastal winds from the Gulf of St. Vincent that help the grapes grown here from spiking their sugars too quickly.
McLaren Vale is home to more than 80 wineries and has the most organic and biodynamic-certified vineyards in Australia. While Shiraz is the dominant grape grown in McLaren Valley, winemakers here are open to experimenting with other varieties, with some clamoring for Italian grapes like Barbera, Sangiovese, Vermentino, and Montepulciano.
The “Junto” GSM blend is made up of 88% Grenache, 6% Shiraz, 3% Mataro, 2% Carignan, 1% Counoise.
When it comes to the grapes in this bottle of Junto, Bondar sources the Grenache from their own Rayner Vineyard, as well neighboring growers at the Trout Vineyard (65-year-old vines) and McLaren Flat (80+-year-old vines). The Mataro (Mourvedre), Carignan, and Counoise are all sourced from Rayner.
The 2019 Bondar Wines GSM Junto is lighter and brighter than you would expect from a blend like this, and that profile all comes down to the fruit being picked early to preserve an almost crunchy quality.
The nose on this ruby-hued wine is defined by black currant and ripe strawberry, subtle eucalyptus, and a strain of graphite. The first sip reveals a palate that is balanced and precise, with pronounced notes of strawberry, jumpy black pepper, bubblegum, and mint. The wine has just the right amount of tannic structure to support but not overwhelm.
This bottle of 2019 GSM “Junto” from Andre Bondar and Selina Kelly is a really nice, approachable wine at an appealing price point. Enjoy it now, or hold onto it for a few years and pop it open when you’re in the mood for an easy-drinking red.
Australia
McLaren Vale
GSM
13.9%
Andre Bonda
62–68°F / 16–20°C
Burgundy
30 Minutes
Now to 2026
Bondar Wines
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