2024 Bondar Hope Springs Eternal Shiraz

The second installment in Bondar’s elite Hope Springs Eternal micro-project is a spectacular, single-barrel release that marks a career high for winemaker Andre Bondar.

The fruit comes from a prized, elevated block of 1971-planted vines at the certified biodynamic Hickinbotham Vineyard in Clarendon. Grown on red soils studded with ironstone, this cool-climate site yields fruit of incredible focus. Andre fermented this mostly as whole bunches and gave it a patient, two-year élevage in a single, old, thick-walled 600L demi-muid. Total production is a tiny 600 bottles.

Scoring 96 points from the Halliday Wine Companion, reviewer Marcus Ellis notes its stunning refinement and compact structure. It is packed with dark plum, blackberry, sour cherry, and a graphitic, granitic mineral quality, all backed by tobacco leaf and dried herbs. It is a brooding, detailed masterpiece built for the long haul. If you’re cracking one early, give it plenty of air to watch those complex layers unfurl.

96+ points
"There’s a compactness here, a finely packed spiciness, a graphitic and almost granitic mineral quality, dried herbs, tobacco and a twiggy snap in the background. Refinement reigns, like the grenache in the range, with time the key, though abundant air reveals layer after layer of subtle detail. A wine of real cellar potential."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)